Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about highway issues near the complainant’s home. It is too late to complain about general highways issues which the complainant has been aware of for many years. The Ombudsman is unlikely to find evidence of fault in how the Council carried out recent resurfacing of the road on which the complainant lives.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to here as Mr B, has complained about various traffic management issues relating to the area where he lives.

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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. It says we cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something of which they were aware. Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
3. 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’.
4. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if, for example, we believe it is unlikely we would find fault. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
5. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached that is likely to have affected the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I have considered what Mr B said in his complaint. The Council also provided some background information. Mr B commented on a draft before I made this decision.

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What I found

Highway safety issues

7. Mr B has raised issues about highway safety near his home for several years. For example, he provided a press cutting from 2016 in which he said the problem had existed for seven years.
8. There is no good reason we should now investigate these issues because of the restriction I describe in paragraph 2. I do note however the Council carried out traffic monitoring late last year and says the area will be monitored periodically.

Recent resurfacing work

9. The Council resurfaced the road on which Mr B lives in May 2019. He has complained this has led to increased noise and vibration.
10. The Council has explained it has inspected the road surface and found the work was carried out to an acceptable standard. The type of road surface is also acceptable. It has also explained that traffic noise will decrease as the new surface wears in.
11. I have decided we will not investigate a complaint about the new road surface. The Council has not ignored Mr B’s concerns and has provided him with a full response. I consider we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council.

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Final decision

12. I have decided we will not investigate this complaint for the reasons given in paragraphs 8 and 11.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman