Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about re-surfacing works on his road. This is because the complaint is late and the Council has carried out remedial work to resolve the issue for Mr X. It is therefore unlikely investigation would achieve any worthwhile outcome.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council failed the maintain the correct level when carrying out resurfacing work to the road by his house. He says the issue caused flooding to his property and affected his mental health. He is also concerned about the possible future impact of ice and snow on people walking along the pavement.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
3. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
5. We cannot investigate something that affects all or most of the people in a council’s area. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(7), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mr X confirms the resurfacing work was carried out in August 2020 and the Council’s contractors completed remedial work to resolve the issue at the site of Mr X’s home in January 2021. Any complaint about the original work is therefore late.
8. The Ombudsman has discretion to investigate late complaints but I have seen no good reasons to exercise our discretion in this case. The Council has remedied the issue with the road level at Mr X’s property and it is unlikely further investigation would achieve any worthwhile outcome for Mr X.
9. In the event Mr X suffered damage to his property from water runoff it would be reasonable for him to take the matter to court. Claims for personal injury by users of the road and pavement would also be matters for the courts.
10. Mr X is concerned the work and the need for remedial action has wasted public money but this is not an issue we can investigate. This is because it causes Mr X no significant personal injustice; it is an issue which affects ‘all or most’ of the people in the Council’s area indirectly through the use of public funds and the law does not allow us to investigate such matters.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the complaint is late and it is unlikely we could achieve any worthwhile outcome for Mr X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman