Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Authority’s decisions relating to the type and position, of a bus shelter. There is no worthwhile outcome achievable by us investigating.

The complaint

1. Mr X was unhappy with the Authority’s decisions when it replaced a bus shelter, after the previous bus shelter was damaged. He said the location was unsuitable and it was too large, causing a hazard for road users because of reduced visibility and pedestrians.
2. Mr X wants the Authority to move it or replace it with a smaller version.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Authority.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr X said the Authority ignored his representations. He said the new shelter caused him vehicle access problems and meant that pedestrians, particularly wheelchair users, would struggle to get past the shelter at busy times.
7. The Authority provided Mr X with an explanation for why it decided on the type and where it positioned the shelter. It recognised the space now left on the footpath, was less than the ideal scenario, but was still within recognised limits. It said it replaced the shelter with like for like and was considering access needs of others who may need to us the bus stop when it decided not to reposition it altogether.
8. I will not investigate this complaint because it is unlikely I would find fault and the injustice Mr X claims by the replacement of a shelter is not significant to meet the thresholds in the type of complaints we do investigate. And in any case, we could not direct the Authority to move or alter the position of the shelter, and so there is no worthwhile outcome achievable.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is no worthwhile outcome achievable.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman