Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about repairs to a pavement. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Mr X, complains that the Council has not given a date to do repairs to the pavement outside his home. He wanted the Council to do immediate repairs.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we would find fault. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I read the complaint and the Council’s responses. I found out the Council did some repairs in December and I looked at images of the path in streetview. I spoke to Mr X after he received a draft of this decision.

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What I found

What happened

4. In October Mr X asked the Council to repair the path outside his home within 14 days. He said the tarmac had worn away leaving exposed sharp stones which were dangerous and uncomfortable to walk on.
5. The Council inspected the path. It said the tarmac in the road was in a satisfactory condition but the pavements were worn. It said it would do work during planned maintenance and monitor for any safety defects.
6. Mr X expressed dissatisfaction with the timescales. He repeated his view that the path was dangerous.
7. The Council did repairs to three areas of the path in December. Mr X complained that only three patches had been repaired. He said a longer stretch of the path needed to be repaired. In response, the Council said that the other areas have cosmetic issues which may be addressed during planned maintenance in the future. The Council said it would monitor the path and repair any safety issues that arose.

Assessment

8. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council responded appropriately by inspecting the path and carrying out repairs which were more than cosmetic and could pose a problem. During the inspection in November the issues were logged as requiring a repair within 28 days and this is what happened. I appreciate Mr X may want the whole path to be repaired but the Council has limited resources and has to prioritise repairs which pose safety issues. The Council will continue to monitor and do any repairs that it considers to be necessary. There is nothing here that requires an investigation.
9. Mr X maintains the path continues to be dangerous. However, it is not fault for the Council to follow the professional judgement of officers and, in this case, the necessary repairs have been completed. I have looked at images of the path and, while it does look worn, there is nothing to suggest the path is dangerous or that the professional judgement of officers is so wrong that an investigation is needed.

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Final decision

10. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman