Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s management of works completed to a shared driveway because there is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s actions to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr Y complains about the Council’s management of works completed to a shared driveway adjacent to his property. He says work completed by the Council caused damage to his own property.
2. Mr Y also complains about the Council’s poor communication and complaint handling.

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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
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

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

4. We will not usually investigate complaint handling if we are not investigating the rest of the complaint. This is because there is not usually enough injustice to justify us doing so. We collect information about particularly poor complaint handling practice and report this back to organisations. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), section 34B(8))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Mr Y and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mr Y is a homeowner, and his neighbour’s property is owned by the Council. The properties share a driveway, but this is clearly divided along legal boundary lines.
8. The Council arranged for works to be completed to the shared driveway. Mr Y says this work caused damage to his property; however, the Council says there is insufficient evidence of this. The Council investigated Mr Y’s concerns, appointing an independent external specialist to consider this. The Council concluded that issues raised by Mr Y were not attributable to the driveway works. I am satisfied the Council properly considered Mr Y’s concerns, and an investigation by us is unlikely to add anything further to the Council’s response.
9. The Ombudsman has no powers to enforce an award of damages and only the Court can do this. If Mr Y believes the Council is liable for causing damage to his property, he should use the courts for such matters. We will therefore not investigate this part of the complaint.
10. Mr Y says he was not properly consulted before works began on the shared driveway. However, the Council is entitled to complete works on its property, within its boundary line.
11. Mr Y says the Council failed to keep him updated about the ongoing works. The Council has records of it providing Mr Y with updates and responding to his concerns. This included completing a site visit to discuss concerns with him in person. There is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s actions to justify our involvement, therefore we will not investigate this complaint.
12. Mr Y has also complained about the Council’s complaint handling. However, where the Ombudsman has decided not to investigate the substantive issues complained about, we will not usually use public resources to consider more minor matters such as complaint handling.
13. I understand Mr Y is seeking compensation from the Council. We do not recommend that Councils pay compensation. Sometimes we recommend that Councils pay a symbolic payment to remedy injustice caused by fault. However, where there is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s actions, we do not consider remedies.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Mr Y’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s actions to justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman