City of York Council (21 018 262)
Category : Transport and highways > Rights of way
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 31 Mar 2022
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about highway maintenance. There is insufficient evidence of significant injustice to Mr X which would warrant an investigation.
The complaint
- Mr X complained about the maintenance of kerbstones and pavements in his area. He also says some hedges near road junctions are overgrown and may be a traffic hazard.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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
- any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
- any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X reported several uneven kerbstones in his area. He told the Council that some were caused by a householder having dropped kerbs installed and should not be repaired at taxpayers’ expense. He also reported some overgrown private hedges which he believes are a risk to traffic as they restrict visibility.
- The Council responded to his reports and said it has dealt with the issue he raised or has inspected them and ordered works. The Council is the Highway Authority, and it has powers to decide what street repairs are carried out. We do not investigate complaints about how public money is used in everyday council decisions.
- The Council says it has notified those private owners who have hedges growing onto the public highway and that they have been given an opportunity to carry out the required works.
- Our role is to consider complaints where the person bringing the complaint has suffered significant personal injustice as a direct result of the actions or inactions of the organisation. This means we will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures. We will not normally investigate a complaint where the alleged loss or injustice is not a serious or significant matter.
- In this case the Council has responded reasonably to Mr X’s reports and there is not enough personal injustice to him which we would consider investigating.
Final decision
- We will not investigate this complaint about highway maintenance. There is insufficient evidence of significant injustice to Mr X which would warrant an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman