Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about road closures and the Council’s Road Closure Notification System. This is because any fault has not caused significant injustice to the person who complained and further investigation is unlikely to lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council’s Road Closure Notification System (RCNS) does not work, and it fails to consolidate repeated closures of the same roads. She says this forces buses onto unsuitable roads which poses potential danger to schoolchildren. She wants the Council to improve the RCNS and co-ordinate road closures.

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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 fault has not caused significant enough injustice to the person who complained to justify our involvement, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation.

(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. Ms X complained to the Council that its RCNS does not work and repeated road closures are forcing buses onto unsuitable roads.
6. The Council responded and acknowledged Ms X’s concerns and frustrations. It explained it regularly challenges road works’ duration and provides suitable diversions.
7. The Council confirmed it will remind all town and parish councils to distribute road closure and diversion information to their residents and run a campaign to promote the use of the webpage and WhatsApp group.
8. We do not investigate all complaints we receive. In deciding whether to investigate we need to consider various tests. These include the alleged injustice to the person complaining. We can only investigate the most serious complaints.
9. We are satisfied with the actions the Council has taken to acknowledge and address Ms X’s concerns and to prevent future failings in service. It is unlikely further investigation would lead to a different outcome, and there is not an outstanding significant injustice that would justify our further involvement.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because any fault has not caused significant injustice to the person who complained and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. We are satisfied with the actions the Council has taken to address the issues and improve future service. Further involvement by the Ombudsman is not justified.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman