Bristol City Council (23 014 284)
Category : Transport and highways > Street furniture and lighting
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 04 Jun 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about road signs which the complainant considers do not meet national requirements. This is because the complainant is not impacted personally from their complaint to a degree that would justify our involvement.
The complaint
- Mx A complained the Council allowed road signs to be installed on a public highway that do not comply with Department for Transport requirements. Mx A complains the Council failed to respond to the complaint in a timely manner and that its responses did not properly address the concerns raised in the 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 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 any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- While I recognise Mx A feels strongly about this matter, they have not personally suffered a significant loss or harm from the alleged fault regarding the road signs.
- The Council has acknowledged there was a delay in it responding, explained why this happened and apologised. I do not consider Mx A is caused significant injustice from this aspect of the complaint.
- We have limited resources and must direct them to the most serious cases. I do not consider it would be in the public interest for us to investigate this complaint.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mx A’s complaint because it does not cause them sufficient personal injustice to warrant our further involvement.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman