Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to repair a grass verge or install measures to allow for easier school bus access close to her home. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant our involvement and further investigation by us would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Mrs X asked the Council to repair a grass verge close to her home or replace it with a different, tougher material. This was to ensure her disabled child (Y) could be collected and dropped off safely by their school bus.
2. Mrs X said the damaged verge posed a safety risk and a tougher material would ensure the bus crew could transport Y safely.

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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
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Y is a wheelchair user. A school bus collects and drops them off every day.
7. Mrs X said a damaged grass verge outside her home was causing a safety issue for the bus crew. Mrs X also raised concerns about parking in the area which caused further issues for the bus crew. Mrs X asked the Council to repair the grass verge or install a tougher material where the verge is.
8. The Council carried out a site visit before responding to Mrs X’s complaint. It agreed there was some damage to the verge but said this was due to wet weather. It said the verge would repair itself if vehicles did not drive over it and weather improved.
9. The Council said it would not install another material on the verge, as this would encourage drivers to drive on it. It said there was enough space on the road for the school bus to collect and drop off Y.
10. It also told Mrs X she could apply for Access Protection Markings (APM’s). APM’s are H-bar markings which are to deter drivers from parking across a driveway. The Council suggested this could prevent drivers from blocking the area.
11. We do not investigate all the complaints we receive. We only investigate those where there is clear fault by the Council. We look for administrative faults such as unreasonable delay or failure to follow relevant policies and procedures and for those where the fault is of a type or scale that there is a significant public interest in exposing and correcting it.
12. The available evidence suggests we would be unlikely to find fault by the Council here. Its actions in response to Mrs X’s complaint appear appropriate.
13. I also consider that because of this, further investigation by us would not lead to a different outcome and so we will not investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council and further investigation by us would not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman