Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about flooding to a carriageway outside her home. This is because we are unlikely to find fault and it is reasonable for Miss X to seek remedy for any damage through the courts.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council has not fixed the carriageway outside her home, which has flooded repeatedly since being resurfaced. She says she has raised this issue with the Council since 2014, but it has not resolved the problem. She says the flooding has caused her stress and damage to her property. Miss X wants the Council to repair the carriageway so excess water can drain away.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. 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)
4. 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 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

5. I considered information provided by Miss X and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. The Council investigated Miss X’s concerns and explained it had put her location forward for a future rolling programme of carriageway patching. It assessed the flood risk at her location as low. It told Miss X priority was being given to higher risk sites. The Council considered Miss X’s concerns, and it was entitled to rely on its professional judgement in deciding whether the work should be treated as a priority. Therefore, we are unlikely to find fault.
8. Miss X complained the flooding had caused damage to her property. The Ombudsman does not investigate claims of negligence or liability regarding damage to private property by a Council, as these are typically matters for the courts to decide. Miss X can contact the Council’s insurers and if this does not resolve the matter she can make a claim in court.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because we are unlikely to find fault and it is reasonable for her to seek remedy for any damage through the courts.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman