Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the condition of a privately owned pavement. Mr X’s complaint is late and there is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate it now.

The complaint

1. Mr X is unhappy with the Council’s response to a report he made about the poor condition of a pavement in his locality belonging to a private landowner.
2. Mr X wants the Council find out who the landlord is and make contact or adopt the pavement.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
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, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))How I considered this complaint

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. Mr X complained to the Council in September 2024 and November 2025 about the poor condition of a pavement in front of some shops near to his home. In the Council’s responses it said the section of pavement belonged to a private landowner and it was therefore not responsible for its upkeep and had no statutory duty to maintain it.
8. We will not investigate this complaint. The law says people should normally complain to us within 12 months of becoming aware of an issue. Complaints brought to the Ombudsman more than 12 months after someone becomes aware of something a council has done are considered late. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons and Mr X has not provided a good reason why he did not complaint to us sooner.
9. Even if the complaint was not late, we would not investigate. This is for the following reasons:
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement

• the Council referred to The Highways Act 1980 in making its decision, which says the maintenance of private, or unadopted streets is the responsibility of those with property fronting the street. As such there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an investigation.

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Final decision

We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is late and there is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate it now.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman