Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about negligence by the Council when carrying out roadworks. This is because it would be reasonable for Ms X to take the matter to court.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council were negligent when carrying out roadworks. She says its traffic management was dangerous and the works restricted access to her property.
2. Ms X says the matter caused distress, a risk to her safety and a loss of amenity. She sought compensation from the Council, but it refused her claim.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
5. Negligence claims and interpreting the law around civil liability are generally best decided by a court where the Council does not accept insurance liability. Only a court can decide whether the problem should have been dealt with by the Council before it caused damage to a person’s property, or if it is liable to pay damages for a person’s loss.
6. We will not usually 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), section 34B(8))

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered information provided by the complainant.
8. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because it would be reasonable to expect her to take the matter to court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman