Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s action to prevent damage to the highway. It is unlikely he would find evidence of fault causing the complainant significant injustice.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to here as Ms C, says the Council has wrongly accused her of damaging the highway outside her home. She says this has caused her stress and that the Council may take action that will devalue her home.

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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’.
3. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if, for example, we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault;
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained; or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have considered what Ms C said in her complaint. The Council also provided background information including photographs of the site.

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What I found

5. The Council has a legal duty to maintain the highway under the Highways Act 1980.
6. The Council believes Ms C accesses, or allows others to access, hardstanding outside her home by crossing the public footway. It told her it might issue a notice under section 184 of the 1980 Act to prevent this. It also said it might recover from her the cost of any preventative works or repairs.
7. Ms C denies she accesses her home by crossing the footway or allows others to do so. Whether or not this is the case, the Council has provided photographs showing vehicles parked on the hardstanding and damage to the highway in the immediate area.
8. The Council says it has now carried out work to prevent further damage to the highway and will not recover the cost from Ms C.

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Final decision

9. I have decided we will not investigate this complaint. This is because we are unlike to find fault by the Council causing Ms C injustice that would justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman