Summary: We will not investigate how the Council dealt with road safety concerns raised by the complainant for over six years. The complaint is made too late but investigation would not, in any case, achieve any different outcome. The Council has already addressed customer service issues arising from the complaint.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to here as Mr B, says the Council has not taken action in response to his concerns about safety issues on the road where he lives. He also says Council officers have failed to respond to him and not returned calls after he has left messages.

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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 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 further investigation will lead to a different outcome. (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 and background information provided by the Council.

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What I found

7. Mr B is concerned about safety issues on the road where he lives and has asked the Council to take action, such as reducing the speed limit. He says he has been raising these concerns with the Council for six years. In October 2020 he made a formal complaint to the Council about the lack of action and the way in which Council officers have treated him.
8. In January 2021, the Council responded to Mr B at the final stage of its complaints procedure. It said the level of service Mr B had received was unacceptable and apologised for this. It also said additional training for staff had been requested.
9. The Council also said it intends allocating funds to look at the road safety issues in the 2021/22 financial year, subject to final approval. The Council can then decide what, if any, actions are required and can be prioritised for funding.

Analysis

10. Mr B had been aware of the issues in his complaint for six years before he complained to us. There no reason the restriction I describe at paragraph 3 should not apply.
11. Even if this restriction did not apply, I do not consider investigation would achieve any different outcome. The Council has said it will consider the safety issues and decide what work is necessary. These are decisions for the Council to make and we could not require it to carry out work it does not consider is appropriate for road safety.
12. The Council has also taken action to address customer service issues raised by Mr B’s complaint.

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Final decision

13. I have decided we will not investigate this complaint for the reasons given in paragraphs 10, 11 and 12.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman