Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about highway maintenance. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the footpaths and walkways in his area being overgrown with vegetation and difficult to use. He wants the Council to cut back the vegetation.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with 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.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. Mr X complained in 202 to his member of Parliament about the state of the walkways and footpaths in his area due to a lack of maintenance. The Council replied in 2021 and informed him that maintenance and footpath usage had been reduced during the COVID-19 lockdown period and that there was a backlog of works for which it has a limited budget.
6. The Council arranged a site meeting with Mr X to discuss what works could be done and how soon. It told him that the programme of works should be delivered by the end of November 2021.
7. Councils as highway authorities have a duty to ensure that highways are kept free of obstruction but how they prioritise their limited budgets are a matter for the highway authority to decide. Apart from urgent repairs they have a scheme of priority usually according to the usage and status of the highway involved.
8. I consider that the Council’s response to Mr X’s complaint is a reasonable one and that there is insufficient evidence of fault which would merit further consideration.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint about highway maintenance. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council which would warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman