Leeds City Council (26 014 256)
Category : Transport and highways > Highway repair and maintenance
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 23 Aug 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s maintenance of a road because it is reasonable for the complainant to go to court.
The complaint
- Mr X complains the Council failed to address highway disrepair resulting in either damage to property or the risk of it.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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)
- We will not usually investigate complaint handling if we are not investigating the rest of the complaint. This is because there is not usually enough injustice to justify us doing so. We collect information about particularly poor complaint handling practice and report this back to organisations. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), section 34B(8))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X has the right to apply to a Magistrates’ Court for an order requiring the Council to take whatever action is needed to bring a highway up to standard, including if he believes resurfacing works are substandard.
- Only the courts can decide whether the Council has maintained the highway properly or is liable for any damage to property due to a failure to properly maintain the highway. The law also gives the Council the right to defend in court against any claims. It is therefore reasonable for Mr X to go to court and so I will not investigate.
- It is not a proportionate use of our resources to investigate the Council’s complaint handling when we are not investigating the substantive issues.
Final decision
- We will not investigate this complaint because it is reasonable for Mr X to go to court.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman