West Northamptonshire Council (25 023 387)
Category : Transport and highways > Highway repair and maintenance
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 15 Jun 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about a pothole repair carried out by the Council. The claimed injustice is not significant enough to warrant our involvement.
The complaint
- Mr X complained about the quality of a pothole repair. Mr X also complained the Council did not properly respond to his complaint.
- Mr X said the Council gave him inaccurate information and he spent time and effort pursuing his complaint but did not receive a proper response.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X complained about the quality of a pothole repair, carried out by the Council.
- In its complaint response, the Council said the repair met the required standards. Mr X disputed this and was dissatisfied with how the Council responded to his complaints. Mr X therefore complained to the Ombudsman.
- Our role is to consider complaints where the person bringing the complaint has suffered significant personal injustice as a direct result of the actions or inactions of the organisation. This means we will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures.
- There is no evidence to suggest Mr X has suffered an injustice which would meet the threshold for a full Ombudsman investigation. For this reason, we will not investigate this complaint.
- As we will not investigate the substantive matters of the complaint, we will not investigate the Council’s handling of the complaint because it is not proportionate to do so.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because his claimed injustice does not warrant our involvement.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman