Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a noisy manhole cover outside Miss X’s home. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault, and the injustice caused to Miss X is not serious enough to warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the manhole cover in the road outside her home makes noise throughout her home every time a vehicle passes over it.
2. Miss X wanted to Council to fix the cover or install a speed camera to stop vehicles speeding over it.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. It is our decision whether to start an investigation into something the law allows us to investigate. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)
4. We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide:
• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Miss X and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Miss X complains about the matter set out in paragraph 1 above. The Council responded to her complaint. It said it checked the manhole cover and it was not found to be defective, then installed a temporary speed camera. It reviewed the data but no further action was taken as it showed good compliance with the speed limit. It is therefore unlikely we could achieve anything more for Miss X by investigating.
8. We do not investigate every complaint we receive and we must focus our limited public resources on investigating those complaints where a person has suffered a significant personal injustice as a result of alleged fault by a body in our jurisdiction.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about a noisy manhole cover. There is insufficient evidence of fault or significant injustice caused to Miss X which would warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman