Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about a damaged road sign. This is because there isn’t enough personal injustice to warrant us investigating further.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council have failed to fix a road sign, despite accepting liability for the damage caused by a refuse lorry. Mr X also complains of poor complaint handling due to it failing to respond to him in a timely manner.

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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, (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. 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. We will not normally investigate a complaint where the alleged loss or injustice is not a serious or significant matter.
6. Mr X complains that, although the Council has accepted liability for damage caused to a road sign by a refuse lorry, it has not fixed the road sign quickly enough. However, the Council has acknowledged responsibility for the damage and agreed to fix the sign. As the Council has already agreed to provide the remedy sought, there is insufficient personal injustice to justify an investigation, and doing so would not be a proportionate use of public resources.
7. Mr X also complains of poor complaint handling due to it failing to respond to him in a timely manner. We will not investigate how the Council dealt with Mr X’s complaint as it is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint handling when we are not looking at the substantive issue.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough personal injustice to warrant us investigating further.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman