Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to Mr X’s contact concerning highway matters. This is because past events fall outside our jurisdiction due to the passage of time and with regards to more recent issues there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council or injustice caused to Mr X to warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council’s past and present handling of various issues, including vegetation obstructing a footpath and a streetlight.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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. We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

Back to top

My assessment

7. Over the years Mr X has made numerous complaints to the Council about a variety of issues. More recently he has focused on highway issues, including vegetation growing over a footpath and over a streetlight.
8. Due to the volume of Mr X’s contact, the Council set up a Single Point of Contact (CPOC) for him. In February 2024, in response to his report of vegetation growing over a footpath, the Council visited the site but found no vegetation which required cutting back.
9. The Council has told Mr X he is welcome to make a Stage 1 complaint if he clarifies what he is complaining about. It sent Mr X a table in June this year to help him marshal any complaints he has and it has told him it will respond accordingly.
10. There had been some earlier confusion by the Council as to its handling of Mr X’s complaint, but this was in part caused by the nature of Mr X’s contact and it has now set out clearly for him what he needs to do to move forward with any complaint he wishes to make.
11. We do not investigate every complaint we receive. We are funded by the public purse and have an obligation to use the funds allocated to use in an effective and efficient manner. In this case, there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council or injustice caused to Mr X to warrant an investigation.
12. Past events later than 12 months old from the time the complainant knew about them fall outside our jurisdiction due to the passage of time and will not be investigated now.

Back to top

Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because past events fall outside our jurisdiction due to the passage of time and with regards to more recent issues there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council or injustice caused to Mr X to warrant an investigation.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman