Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s maintenance of a path. This complaint is outside our jurisdiction, as Mrs X can ask the court to decide what actions the Council should take.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council have failed to adequately maintain a path outside her home.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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

3. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council, and the Council’s related policy and code of practice documentation.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council said it carries out annual assessments of the path area in line with its highway safety policy and code of practice, and at the time of the most recent assessment in January 2025 it did not meet its criteria for repair.
6. Section 56 of the Highways Act 1980 enables any member of the public to apply to a magistrates’ court for an order requiring the highway authority repair the highways, which includes paths. The law also says it is for a court to decide whether a highways authority has met its duty to keep a part of the highway ‘in repair’ because such a decision requires interpretation of that terms and the facts.

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Final decision

7. We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint which is outside our jurisdiction. Mrs X has an alternative court remedy available which we would reasonably expect her to use.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman