The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision on the priority to give Mr X’s road for repairs. This is because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
The complainant, who I refer to as Mr X, says the Council is wrong not to carry out repairs to his road which it urgently needs.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’ which we call ‘fault’. We cannot question whether an organisation’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended) We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X complained to the Council about repairs to his road which he believes requires urgent action.
The Council responded to explain that it has to prioritise the highway maintenance work it carries out due to budgetary constraints and it gave Mr X information about how it makes its decisions on prioritising.
It explained it cannot repair every issue reported to it and that currently it has no plans to resurface his road. However, it confirmed it regularly monitors all roads and that Mr X’s road’s next inspection will be carried out in August 2022.
We cannot question decisions taken by councils following the right steps and considering the relevant evidence and information. It is for the Council to decide what priority to give to roads requiring repair and I have seen no evidence to suggest fault has affected the Council’s decision here. In accordance with its normal policy, it will check Mr X’s road in August and if it finds a defect which meets its safety intervention level, it will take appropriate action.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman