Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about damage to his property caused by passing vehicles on a narrow road. There is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X lives close to a busy B-road and high vehicles have struck his house guttering which overhangs a narrow pavement. He wants the Council to take action to prevent this.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X’s home has been struck by high vehicles which he says must be driving over the narrow footway to hit his guttering. He asked the Council to take action to prevent this, but the Council says there is little which it can do to prevent careless driving.
6. Mr X would like a priority system or the footway widening to deter vehicles, but the Council says the narrowness of the road in its existing form prevents this. It does not consider that this would prevent the careless driving causing the damage. There is insufficient space on the narrow footway for bollards or other physical restrictions.
7. The Ombudsman may not question the merits of decisions which have been made in a proper manner. This means the Ombudsman will not intervene in disagreements about the merits of decisions.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about damage to his property caused by passing vehicles on a narrow road. There is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council which would warrant an investigation.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman