Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the cost to move a streetlight. This is because we would be unlikely to find fault.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained that she should not have to pay the full cost for the Council to move the street light outside her property. She considers the cost excessive. Miss X said that to have a driveway, the street light needs to be moved so she can have a vehicle crossing and driveway on the property.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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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. Where a resident wants a streetlight moved for their own benefit, for example to enable access to their private property, there is no fault in the Council charging for the work.
6. Miss X reports the Council’s estimated cost for the work has increased from £2,000-4,000 in 2016 to £5,000-7,000 in 2025. That is not necessarily fault either. Costs can increase over time and moving a streetlight is not necessarily straightforward.
7. Miss X says the Council will not negotiate with her about the cost. The Council has no duty to do that, so it is unlikely we would find fault on that point.
8. Miss X says the streetlight would only need to move a short distance. She is dissatisfied the Council has not inspected on site. However, the main factors affecting the cost are the electrical and mechanical work needed in moving the streetlight. How far the light would move is less important. Any investigation by us would be unlikely to find fault here.
9. Miss X argues she is being ‘penalised’ because hers is the only house in the area with a streetlight in that position. However, the streetlight was already in that location when Miss X bought her home. Moving it would involve a cost regardless of the circumstances of other nearby properties. So, the Council is not penalising Miss X. It is Miss X’s decision, not the Council’s, to ask for the streetlight to be moved.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because we are unlikely to find fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman