Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the installation of an EV charging point in the public highway outside Mrs X’s home. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about the Council installing an electric vehicle public charging point in the highway outside her home. She says the Council did not consult her before the works started and that she believes the charger is in a poor choice of location. She also is concerned about the proximity of the charger to her boundary wall.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. Mrs X says she received a letter giving 14 days’ notice of the installation of a charging point in the footway outside her home. She says she should have been consulted before this to allow her views to be considered. She says she is concerned with the proximity of the apparatus to her front boundary wall which will make it harder to maintain in future. She was also concerned that her wall may be damaged during the works.
6. The Council told her that the scheme for introducing charging points was approved by the Council’s Cabinet in 2022 and the choice of spaces was for the highway authority to decide based on date from its own survey and the charger providers.
7. The Council is the highway authority and it has powers under the Highways Act 1980 to install infrastructure within the highway boundary without the requirement for public consultation or planning approval. If there is any impact on parking regulations a Traffic Regulation Order will be required, but this does not prevent the Council from installing the infrastructure. If any damage is caused to adjacent property the owners may submit a civil claim against the Council’s public liability insurance.
8. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong, regardless of whether someone disagrees with the decision the organisation made.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint about the installation of an EV charging point in the public highway outside Mrs X’s home. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman