Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to make highways alterations at a hospital junction. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council refused to introduce restrictions and traffic lights at a hospital junction.
2. He says the junction is dangerous and has led to several near misses.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. The Council considered Mr X’s requests for changes to a hospital junction. It declined to make them and explained its reasons why. These included the relatively low numbers of vehicles using the exit, no collisions reported in the last five years and no concerns raised by its parking enforcement officers. The Council explained that the costs could not, therefore, be justified.
7. Our role is not to ask whether an organisation could have done things differently, or whether we agree or disagree with what it decided. 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.
8. In making its decision the Council took the relevant issues into account. Therefore, we will not investigate because there is not enough evidence of fault in the decision-making process to justify an investigation.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman