Surrey County Council (25 030 325)
Category : Transport and highways > Highway repair and maintenance
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 15 Jul 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about fault by the Council when dealing with Mrs X’s complaint. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
The complaint
- Mrs X complains about fault by the Council when dealing with her complaint about a flooded pavement area. She says she is unable to walk along the road where she lives when its dark due to insufficient lighting. Mrs X wants the Council to assess the risks to pedestrians and address the issue with the organisation responsible for maintaining the lights.
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:
- there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
- further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
(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
- The Council accepts it wrongly told Mrs X she should report flooding on the path to the private landowner. Although the blocked gully is privately owned, the Council is responsible for the town path and says it will contact the landowner to arrange the necessary work. The Council apologised for the error and there is nothing further we could achieve.
- The Council inspected the path in January 2026 and found no safety concerns. It says no other reported defects have met its threshold for intervention and advised Mrs X to report any further defects. There is insufficient evidence of fault. As the Council has not identified a safety issue with the path, it is not required to pursue the landowner about lighting.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman