Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council not repairing a streetlight on his road. This is because the matter has not caused Mr X significant injustice and it is unlikely investigation would achieve any worthwhile outcome for Mr X.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council has failed to repair a streetlight outside his property for six months. He also says the Council did not respond to his complaints.

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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 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 any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or

• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. In September 2024, the streetlight near Mr X’s property stopped working and he reported it to the Council several times. Officers explained it was a power supply issue, and they had notified the relevant utility company of the problem. By January 2025, the streetlight was still not working so Mr X contacted the Council again. In March, the utility company repaired the fault.
6. It is unfortunate the Council could not fix the streetlight for six months. The issue was complex as it concerned a problem with the power supply and not just an issue with a bulb. The Council has now resolved the issues and the streetlight is now working again.
7. We do not investigate all the complaints we receive. In deciding whether to investigate we need to consider various tests. These include the alleged injustice to the person complaining. We only investigate the most serious complaints.
8. I recognise the lack of a working streetlight caused Mr X inconvenience, however the injustice he claims is not sufficient to warrant us investigating. The council has apologised, repaired the streetlight and reviewed procedures with staff. This provides a suitable outcome for the complaint and it is unlikely investigation would achieve anything more for Mr X.
9. Mr X is also unhappy with the way the Council dealt with his complaint. But it is not a good use of public resources to look at the Council’s complaints handling if we are not going to consider the substantive issue about which Mr X complained. We will not therefore investigate this issue separately.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the injustice caused by the issue with the streetlight is not significant enough to warrant investigation. The issue has now been resolved and it is unlikely investigation would achieve anything more for Mr X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman