Summary: Mr X complains the Council is breaking the law by allowing temporary road signs to remain in place for longer than the permitted period. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because we cannot investigate complaints which affect all or most of the residents in a council’s area. And we do not consider Mr X has suffered any significant personal injustice because of the Council’s actions.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council is breaking the law by allowing temporary road signs to remain in place for much longer than the permitted period. He wants the Council prosecuted and made to explain why it flouts the law.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We cannot investigate something that affects all or most of the people in a council’s area. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(7), as amended)
4. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained.

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

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

5. I considered the information provided by Mr X and the Council.

Back to top

What I found

6. Mr X complained to the Council it was breaching the Traffic Signs Regulations General Directions 2016, which require particular road signs to be removed after 3 months. He says the road signs he is referring to have been in place for some years.
7. The Council says it tries to remove all signs from the highway which are no longer needed. But it accepts there are times when this does not happen. It also says its priority is the principal road network, the repair of the worst pot holes and other safety critical work such as flooding and bridge repairs.
8. The Council has also confirmed it has passed the request for the removal of the signs to the relevant Maintenance Engineering Team, who will ensure they are removed as soon as possible.

Assessment
 

9. I understand Mr X may be frustrated by the Councils failure to remove redundant road signs within the period specified in the Traffic Signs Regulations General Directions 2016. But I consider all road users in the county would be affected by this. And as stated in paragraph 3 above, we cannot investigate complaints which affect all or most of the people in a council’s area. Also, I do not consider Mr X has suffers any significant personal injustice because of the Council’s actions.

Back to top

Final decision

10. Subject to any comments Mr X might make, my view is the Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint. This is because of the points made in paragraph 3 and 4 above.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman