Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about a dropped kerb. It is unlikely he would find fault by the Council has caused the complainant injustice that warrants his involvement.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to here as Miss B, has complained because someone in her road has installed a dropped kerb without permission. She says this has reduced the parking space available on the road. Miss B also says she had to pay £1000 to the Council to have a dropped kerb at her home but the other person has not paid a fee. Miss B complained to the Council but has not received a response.

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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 something that affects all or most of the people in a council’s area. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(7), 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;
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained; or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

5. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures if we are not investigating the substantive issue.

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How I considered this complaint

6. I have considered what Miss B said in her complaint. The Council also provided a copy of a Stage 2 complaint she made in July 2019 and confirmed it had not responded to this. I have also seen images of the dropped kerb on the Internet.
7. Miss B commented on a draft before I made this decision.

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What I found

8. A resident of Miss B’s road has installed a dropped kerb which apparently was not approved by the Council and which she says is wider than would usually be allowed.
9. I have considered whether any fault by the Council can have caused Miss B injustice that would warrant our involvement.
10. Miss B lives about a five minute walk from the property with the dropped kerb she complains about and I do not consider it affects her directly.
11. I do not consider the dropped kerb has a significant effect on parking in the road, given:
• the size of the dropped kerb;
• the number of similar dropped kerbs in the road; and
• the fact it allows a car to be parked off the highway.
12. Non-payment of a fee would not directly affect Miss B, although I understand she may consider it unfair. Any financial loss would be to the Council and so would affect all the residents of the Council’s area.
13. While not condoning the Council’s failure to respond to Miss B, I do not consider this is something we should investigate as a separate issue. I will, however, ask the Council to respond to her, however late.

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Final decision

14. I have decided we will not investigate this complaint. This is because we are unlikely to find fault by the Council has caused Miss B injustice that justifies our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman