Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a dropped kerb request because there is not enough evidence of fault and no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

The complaint

1. Mrs Y complained the Council said it would refuse her application for a vehicle crossover dropped kerb because there is a bus stop outside her home, despite her child’s health needs meaning he cannot safely be near the road alone.
2. Mrs Y says she feels the Council has not considered her circumstances properly or the risk to her son of rejecting her application.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered Mrs Y and the Council information provided and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Outside Mrs Y’s property, on the boundary between her property and her neighbours there is a bus stop.
6. The Council’s Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) team, advice was sought from the Council’s highways department about whether it would accept an application for a dropped kerb vehicle crossover. Mrs Y says the dropped kerb would allow Mrs Y to park directly outside her property and enable her to safely get her son, who regularly runs out into roads and is unaware of the danger, in and out of her vehicle.
7. The Council advised that under its policy, as there is a bus stop outside Mrs Y’s property, it would refuse the application. Mrs Y complained to the Council, explaining why she felt the Council ought to consider the application as an exceptional circumstance and use its discretion to grant the permission or a dropped kerb, despite the proximity of the bus stop.
8. The Council’s response was that the decision would not change as it would be in line with its policy. Mrs Y then approached us.
9. As neither Mrs Y or the DFG team made an application for a dropped kerb, it has not yet decided to refuse the application or not, it is only able to advise on what its policy says and give advice about potential success of an application. As it has only at this stage been able to give advice, there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.
10. If Mrs Y had made an application, we would expect the Council to consider the circumstances fully, including considering use of its discretion where there are exceptional circumstances to take a different approach to that set out in its dropped kerb policy. We would also expect it to explain to Mrs Y, or any other such applicant, the reasons for its decision to use its discretion or not. However, as an application has not yet been made, and cannot therefore have been considered or decided, there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigation.
11. Further, as Mrs Y has not yet made an application, we cannot achieve a worthwhile outcome to any investigation into the advice given, that an application would be rejected. Had Mrs Y have made an application, we may have asked the Council to consider a fresh application, or reconsider the original application, but as this has not yet occurred, we could not achieve this. Consequently, we will not investigate.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mrs Y’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault and no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman