The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint that the Council wrongly approved a third party’s application for a dropped kerb. This is because the decision does not cause Miss X significant injustice and we cannot say the Council must remove the third party’s dropped kerb or approve her own application, as she would like.
The complaint
The complainant, Miss X, complains the Council approved a third party’s application for a vehicle crossover (dropped kerb) but refused her own. She says the reason given for refusal of her application concerned proximity to an existing tree but the third party’s dropped kerb will be even closer to another tree so should also have been refused. She would like the Council to remove the third party’s dropped kerb or approve her application.
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)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Miss X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council insists it correctly approved the third party’s application and has provided photos it says supports its decision. Miss X disputes this and says she has measured the distance between the tree and the dropped kerb and it does not comply with the Council’s policy.
But even if the Council wrongly approved the third party’s application its decision has not caused Miss X significant injustice. While she feels it is unfair that the Council approved another application she believes does not meet the criteria, any injustice resulting from the decision is not significant enough to warrant further investigation and we could not achieve the outcome Miss X wants.
Miss X is also unhappy with the way the Council dealt with her complaint. But it is not a good use of public resources to look at the Council’s complaints handling if we are not going to look at the substantive issue complained about. We will not therefore investigate this issue separately.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the Council’s actions have not caused Miss X significant injustice.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman