Summary: We will not investigate Mr Y’s complaint about highway maintenance. This is because part of the complaint is late. It is reasonable to expect Mr Y to take court action about more recent matters.

The complaint

1. Mr Y complains the Council failed to sufficiently repair the road and pavement close to his home. He says the Council has avoided its responsibilities to maintain the road and ignored his local MP’s inspection of the site. Mr Y says the road surface and pavement is unsafe for pedestrians, particularly older people.
2. Mr Y complains the Council has ignored his complaints about the issues for many years. He wants the Council to carry out resurfacing of the road.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. 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)
5. 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)
6. 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 injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
8. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

9. Mr Y complains about historic matters with the road surface dating back many years. He first complained to the Ombudsman about the Council’s failure to maintain the road in January 2026, meaning we would not usually look at events before January 2025. I have seen no good reasons to investigate matters before January 2025. Mr Y could have complained to us much sooner if he wished for us to consider these historic issues.
10. In its final complaint response from January 2026, the Council told Mr Y that it had assessed the site and decided to add it to its Plane and Patch programme for the next financial year. It said this programme was aimed at delivering targeted resurfacing works. But, the Council said it was unable to give an exact timescale for completing the repair works. In the meantime, the Council said it would continue to monitor reports about the road and carry out routine safety inspections.
11. If a person considers that a highways authority has failed to maintain a highway it is responsible for, such as a road or pavement, the person affected can apply to the Magistrates court for an order to be made under section 56 of the Highways Act 1980. This order requires the highways authority to carry out the work needed to the highway.
12. Mr Y may use this process to try to get the Council to carry out works to the road and pavement. There might be some cost to court action. However, that does not mean it is unreasonable to take court action. There is often financial assistance to those of a low income from HM Courts and Tribunal Service. Also, reasonable adjustments can be made for access to the service if necessary. It is therefore reasonable for Mr Y to be expected to use this right to go to court about this matter.
13. Further, the court is in the best position to decide whether the Council has met its legal duty to maintain the highway. Unlike the Ombudsman, the court can order the Council to do the required work, so it is better placed than us to consider the complaint. So, we will not investigate this complaint.
14. It is not a proportionate use of our limited resources to investigate the Council’s complaint handling alone when we are not considering the core issues. Any separable injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate Mr Y’s complaint about highway maintenance. This is because part of the complaint is late. It is reasonable to expect Mr Y to take court action about more recent matters.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman