Northumberland County Council (21 009 366)
Category : Transport and highways > Rights of way
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 11 Jan 2022
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s closure of a footpath used by Mr X. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council or injustice caused to Mr X to warrant an investigation.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I refer to as Mr X, complains about the Council’s handling of the temporary closure of a footpath close to his home and regularly used by him. He says it has not dealt with this matter in accordance with conditions attached to a planning permission and that it misled him and did not deal properly with his complaint.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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 may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- There has been some confusion in relation to the numbered footpath the subject of the temporary closure order and a nearby unnumbered path which had no protection under planning conditions.
- The Council says an alternative route for the numbered footpath covered by the planning condition was provided but that no alternative route was provided for the separate closure order relating to the unnumbered path.
- While reference to these two separate paths may not have been clear, either by the Council or the complainant, neither fault by the Council nor the injustice caused to Mr X is sufficient to warrant a formal investigation by the Ombudsman.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council or injustice caused to Mr X to warrant an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman