Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate how the Council has dealt with the complainant’s concerns about safety on the access road at the rear of his home. The complaint is made too late and the Ombudsman would, in any case, be unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to here as Mr B, has complained the Council will not take action to tackle safety issues on the access road to the rear of his home.

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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.
3. 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 a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these.
5. 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)
6. 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

7. I have considered what Mr B said in his complaint. The Council also provided a copy of its responses to Mr B’s concerns.

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What I found

8. Mr B raised concerns about safety issues with the Council in January 2018. As he remained unhappy, the Council considered his concerns through its corporate complaints procedure. In June 2018, it explained why it did not uphold his complaint and how he could contact us.
9. Mr B did not complain to us until February 2020. I consider his complaint is made too late and there is no good reason we should investigate this.
10. Further, even if the complaint was made in good time, I have seen nothing to suggest fault by the Council. It has considered Mr B’s concerns and advised him to contact the police about dangerous driving. It has also considered if there are traffic calming measures it could take and explained to Mr B why these are not practical in the particular location.

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Final decision

11. I have decided we will not investigate this complaint for the reasons set out in paragraphs 9 and 10.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman