Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council handled concerns about long-running road works. This is because we have decided any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council’s handling of road works near to his home. He says the Council is not doing all it can to fix a long-running highway safety issue. He says the temporary traffic lights do not always work properly. He says this causes him injustice as he often chooses a different route and his journeys can be delayed. He would like the Council to fix the road, provide him with an action plan and review the current traffic management.
2. Mr X also complains about the Council’s handling of his complaint.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. People may complain to us about injustice caused by:
• ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’ by a public organisation we could investigate; or
• the actions of an organisation in connection with privately arranged adult social care.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 26A(1) or section 34C(1)(a)).

4. 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), or section 34B(8)).
5. We will not normally investigate complaint handling if we are not investigating the rest of the complaint. This is because there is not usually enough injustice to justify us doing so. We collect information about particularly poor complaint handling practice and report this back to organisations. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), or section 34B(8)).

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Mr X complains the road works near to his home have been ongoing since 2023. He says the temporary traffic light do not always work and road users often ignore them. He has recently complained to the Council about the matter.
9. The Council says this is a complex issue caused by a landslip on privately-owned land at the side of the road and it is working with the landowner to fix the issue. The Council says the traffic management measures are necessary to ensure the safety of road users.
10. The evidence shows Mr X lives near to the road works, but the affected road is not the only route he can use to access his home.
11. The law means we can choose only to investigate a complaint where the person has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures by the body complained about. We will not normally investigate a complaint where the alleged loss or injustice is not a serious or significant matter.
12. I recognise the circumstances of Mr X’s complaint have affected him, but this is not significant enough to warrant us investigating.
13. We will not investigate the way the Council handled the complaint and correspondence here because we are satisfied it did not cause enough separate injustice to warrant it.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate this complaint because any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman