Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council failed to make reasonable adjustments to his road to help him to access his property. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council failed to make reasonable adjustments to allow him to access his driveway in his car. He also complains the Council has damaged his dropped kerb.

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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. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. The Council is under no obligation to make changes to the highway to help Mr X access his driveway. It has considered his request for ‘reasonable adjustments’ under the Equality Act 2010 but explained the Act does not apply to the layout of the road. It further explained the reasons it would not change the road layout as he would like and there is no basis to criticise its decision.
6. While Mr X claims the Council has damaged his dropped kerb, the dropped kerb remains part of the highway for which the Council is responsible; it is not Mr X’s property. The Council is under a general obligation to maintain the surface of the highway and this includes any dropped kerbs for which it is responsible. The Council has inspected the dropped kerb outside Mr X’s property but found no structural issues or defects requiring repairs.
7. It is not our role to interpret the Council’s responsibilities for maintenance of the public highway. If therefore Mr X believes the dropped kerb is out of repair he should follow the process set out at Section 56 of the Highways Act 1980. This allows him to serve notice on the Council and apply to the court for an order requiring it to carry out repairs. The court is also better placed to determine any claim for damages to Mr X’s property.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman