The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to cap streetlights opposite the complainant’s home. There is no evidence of fault in the Council’s actions.
The complaint
The complainant, I shall call Mr D, complains the Council: Unnecessarily capped streetlight causing the area close to his home to be in complete darkness Failed to respond to deadlines set out in the complaint procedure; and Failed to have his complaint considered by ‘a fresh pair of eyes’
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. 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) 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)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr D and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Following Mr D’s complaint, the Council inspected the highway outside his home at night and took photos. It is satisfied the carriageway and footpath are illuminated and will not remove the caps from the lighting columns Local authorities have discretion to provide streetlamps under a statutory power but have no duty to do so. If Mr D wishes to light the front of his property then he is free to do so, providing it does not cause a statutory nuisance to nearby occupants.
Mr X also complains about the Council’s complaints procedure. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr D’s complaint because we have not seen any evidence of fault in the Council’s decision to cap the streetlights.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman