Summary: We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint that the Council has made changes to a roundabout which has made it more dangerous. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will refer to as Mr B, complains that the Council has made changes to the layout of a roundabout which has made it more dangerous. Mr B would like the Council to change the roundabout back to the previous layout.

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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.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr B.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council says it made changes to the roundabout for safety reasons. The Council says officers have visited the site and the roundabout is working as it should, although some drivers are not obeying the rules this is common across the road network. The Council says there have been no personal injuries reported since the scheme was installed, so it does not plan to make any further changes to the roundabout.
6. The Council has explained to Mr B why it made changes to the roundabout. The Council is satisfied with the new layout. These are decisions for the Council to make. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman