Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council has not told him when it will repaint a faded zebra crossing. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council has not told him approximately when it will repaint a faded zebra crossing. Mr X says there is currently only one visible stripe left on the crossing and it poses a safety hazard.

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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 do not start an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
3. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Mr X complained to the Council about a faded zebra crossing and asked it to provide an approximate timeframe for when it would be repainted.
7. The Council told Mr X the issue had been placed on its maintenance works list. It said it could not provide an approximate date that the works would be completed as it had a large backlog of maintenance work which it is completing in order of priority.
8. Following its final response to the complaint, the Council sent Mr X a further update, explaining how works were being prioritised and completed. It said it hopes the requested works will be completed by the end of March 2026.
9. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council here to warrant a further investigation by this office. The Council has provided a suitable response to Mr X’s concerns, explaining why it could not initially provide an expected timeframe for the works and has provided a further update with the expected timeframe for completion. There is nothing further we could add to the response the Council has already provided via its own investigation of the matter were we to also investigate.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman