Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to grant him a dropped kerb. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault in the way the Council made its decision.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council has refused to allow him a dropped kerb. He disagrees with the Council’s policy and criteria for dropped kerbs and says it granted other residents dropped kerbs when they did not meet the criteria.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect 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 an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

4. We are not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong.
5. The Council’s decision not to allow Mr X a dropped kerb is in accordance with its policy and is not fault. We cannot therefore say the Council must approve his application or pay him compensation for the fact his property is not worth as much as it would be with a dropped kerb.
6. I appreciate Mr X’s arguments as to why the Council’s policy should be different but it is not for us to determine the Council’s policies. I have seen nothing to suggest the policy in this case is unlawful and there is therefore no basis for us to question it.
7. Mr X is in the same position he was when he bought the property and has no absolute right to a dropped kerb. While the Council may have granted other residents in the area dropped kerbs against its previous or current policy/ criteria this is not an injustice to Mr X.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman