Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council managed traffic congestion on a road near Mr X’s house. This is because Mr X has not suffered significant personal injustice.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains that there is a lot of traffic at a road junction near his house. He says this is because of traffic lights that have been installed. Mr X says the Council has delayed a scheme that would improve the junction and the congestion causes him to take a different route which adds ten minutes to his journey time. Mr X wants the Council to listen to his suggestions and set up a temporary solution until the traffic management scheme is completed.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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:

• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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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. Our role is to consider complaints where the person bringing the complaint has suffered significant personal injustice as a direct result of the actions or inactions of the organisation. This means we will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures.
6. I understand the traffic problems add ten minutes to Mr X’s journey time. While this may be frustrating, I do not consider the injustice suffered significant enough to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.
7. Mr X has also complained about how the Council handled his complaint. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough significant personal injustice to warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman