Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council closing his road for resurfacing works. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council resurfacing his street for a period of 9 days when he was unable to park or access his drive. He says the Council should pay him £150 for the inconvenience of having to park some distance away.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X says the Council notified residents that it would be closing the road for nine days. Because he and his mother are blue badge holders he believed this would cause some problems. He says he tried to contact the Council to discuss this, but no-one called him back.
6. When the works were ongoing he was unable to park nearby or use his driveway. He says this resulted in him having to park some distance away which caused great inconvenience. The Council told him that it was necessary to erect screening and close the road for the safety of the workforce and residents.
7. There is no statutory duty to pay compensation to residents or businesses for inconvenience or loss of business whilst highway repairs are being carried out. The Council notified residents of the proposed works and it carried out the work during the working periods which were available to it.
8. The Ombudsman may not question the merits of decisions which have been made in a proper manner. This means we will not intervene in disagreements about the merits of decisions.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint about the Council closing his road for resurfacing works. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman