Summary: Mrs X complains the Council failed to deal with management of an access road and a community facility properly. The Council did not oversee the management of the community facility and delayed responding to Mrs X’s complaint. Mrs X did not suffer any ongoing serious injustice.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs X, complains the Council failed to deal with management of an access road and a community facility properly because:

• Risk assessments have not been available, the facility has been overbooked and streetlights are not working;
• The landscaping around the pavilion has not been maintained and refuse bins have not been emptied;
• A controlled crossing point hasn’t been available for a long time;
• It has approved another similar development which will have the same problems;
• It has not taken action over a breach of a s106 planning agreement; and
• There have been delays dealing with her complaint.

2. Mrs X says she has suffered avoidable distress

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. Our role is not to ask whether an organisation could have done things better, or whether we agree or disagree with what it did. Instead, we look at whether there was fault in how it made its decisions. If we decide there was no fault in how it did so, we cannot ask whether it should have made a particular decision or say it should have reached a different outcome.
5. When considering complaints, we make findings based on the balance of probabilities. This means that we look at the available relevant evidence and decide what was more likely to have happened.
6. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

Back to top

What I have and have not investigated

7. I have investigated that part of Mrs X’s complaint about how the Council has dealt with his care. The final section of this statement contains my reasons for not investigating the rest of the complaint.
8. I have not investigated that part of Mrs X’s complaint which concerns functions of the parish council, as this is outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.
9. I have not investigated that part of Mrs X’s complaint concerning the controlled crossing point, and the s106 planning agreement as these are historic issues over 12 months old and are therefore late complaints.
10. I have not investigated that part of Mrs X’s complaint concerning the approval of another similar development because there is no ongoing significant injustice to the complainant.

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

11. I spoke to Mrs X about his complaint and considered documents she provided. I made enquiries of the Council and considered its response and the supporting documents it provided.
12. Mrs X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

Back to top

What I found

What happened?

13. This is a brief chronology of key events. It does not contain everything I reviewed during my investigation.
14. A school and a community facility were created next to each other. Access to the school was through a road with associated parking for the community facility.
15. In 2022, there were conflicts between users of the school and the community facility concerning parking.
16. Mrs X complained to the Council in February 2023. At the time of her complaint the Council was Sedgemoor District Council.
17. The Council responded at stage 1 of its complaints procedure in March 2023.
18. Mrs X asked for her complaint to be escalated to stage 2 at the end of March 2023.
19. In March 2022, Parliament authorised the creation of a new unitary authority called Somerset Council. The council replaced the authorities of Somerset County Council, Mendip District Council, Sedgemoor District Council, Somerset West and Taunton Council and South Somerset Council. The change took effect on 1 April 2023.
20. The Council responded at stage 2 of its complaints procedure in late August 2023.

Analysis

Ownership and responsibilities

21. When the community facility was built in 2014, there was a contract between the developer and the Council. The developer transferred its responsibilities under the contract to a third party grounds maintenance provider.
22. The land comprising the community facility, access road and parking belonged to the Council.
23. Planning documents show the road was intended to be a public highway.
24. The Council says that the management of the community facility has been informally transferred to the local Parish Council. The Council says, “It is intended to either enter into a 125 year lease with [the Parish Council] or to transfer the freehold interest to [the Parish Council]. However, due to local government reorganisation, these matters have been delayed.”
25. There is no formal management agreement between the Council and the Parish Council. Therefore the Parish Council manages the community facility on behalf of the Council. The Council remains responsible for the community facility and its management.
26. This means that there are three categories of responsibilities:
• Those that are the responsibility of the Council, whether performed by it or on its behalf by the Parish Council; and
• Those that are the responsibility of the grounds maintenance provider.
• Those that are the responsibility of the County Council, as the highways authority.

Mrs X’s complaint

27. The Council told Mrs X that the Parish Council was responsible for the management of the community facility. In its enquiry response to the Ombudsman, it said, “How the Parish Council manage the booking and parking of vehicles is their responsibility.”
28. This is fault by the Council. It has not maintained adequate oversight of the management of the community facility by the Parish Council on its behalf. However, I have not seen any evidence showing significant ongoing injustice to Mrs X as a result.
29. The Council’s stage one complaint response indicates that Mrs X did not want her complaint shared. Emails Mrs X provided to me show that she stated in October 2022 that she intended to raise concerns with the County Council. It was therefore reasonable for the Council not to address concerns relating to matters, (including lighting of a public highway), that are the responsibility of the County Council in its complaint response. This is not fault by the Council.
30. The Council accepts that there was delay in responding to Mrs X’s complaint. This is fault by the Council. Mrs X did not receive a stage two complaint response in the timeframe she should have done.

Action by the Council

31. The Council has provided an update on the matters raised by Mrs X in her complaint. It says:
• [the Parish Council] manage all bookings and maintain the pitches.
• the car park lighting is faulty and is not currently in working order and requires a lengthily and costly repair. Solar PIR lighting is being installed by [the Parish Council].
• there have been some issues relating to the use of the car park at busy intervals, [the Parish Council] work closely with the school to try and manage this during school pick up and drop off times.
• [the Parish Council] longer accept bookings for hall hire during periods of football matches to reduce the demand on the car park at this already busy time.
• [the Parish Council] have been in conversations with the Trust in respect of litter and dog bins and the frequency of which they are emptied and are looking at taking on additional emptying of the bins to reduce the potential of bins overflowing.

Back to top

Agreed action

32. To remedy the outstanding injustice caused by the fault I have identified, the Council has agreed to take the following action within 4 weeks of this decision:
• Review the arrangements for managing the community facility in order to ensure adequate oversight is in place by the Council; and
• Raise the highways matters complained about with the County Council to ensure it is aware of them.
33. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

Back to top

Final decision

34. I have found fault by the Council, which did not cause injustice to Mrs X. I have now completed my investigation.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman