The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: Mr B has a disability which affects his mobility. He often returns home from work in the hours of darkness and has to walk along an unlit road. He is worried that he will fall in the dark and make his condition worse. Mr B asked the Council for longer streetlighting hours near his home and complained that it failed to properly consider his request. We found no fault on the Council’s part.
The complaint
Mr B complains that the Council failed to properly consider his request for longer streetlighting hours near his home.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended) If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I have considered information provided by Mr B and by the Council.
Mr B and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.
What I found
The Equality Act 2010 The Equality Act 2010 (‘the Act’) protects the rights of individuals and supports equality of opportunity for all. It offers protection in employment, education, the provision of goods and services, housing, transport and the carrying out of public functions.
The Act makes it unlawful for organisations carrying out public functions to discriminate on any of the nine protected characteristics listed in the Act. They must also have regard to the general duties aimed at eliminating discrimination under the Public Sector Equality Duty.
The ‘ protected characteristics ’ referred to in the Act are: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.
The Public Sector Equality Duty The Public Sector Equality Duty requires all local authorities (and bodies acting on their behalf) to have due regard to the need to: eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Act; advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not; foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.
The broad purpose of the public sector equality duty is to consider equality and good relations into the day-to-day business and decision-making of public authorities. It requires equality considerations to be reflected in the design of policies and the delivery of services, including internal policies, and for these issues to be kept under review.
The Council’s streetlighting policy In 2012 the Council decided to change its street lighting policy and switch to part-night lighting to make budgetary savings and reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions. The Council completed an equality impact assessment as part of the decision-making process which concluded that all or most of the population were equally impacted by changes to the lighting hours. Although it found that there was the potential for people who were partially sighted to experience greater difficulty during the hours when lighting was extinguished. The assessment found that for people with other disabilities the impact was likely to be consistent with that experienced by the wider population.
In December 2020 the Council decided that, as part of the ongoing efficiency programme, it would change the lighting hours from midnight to 6 am to 1 to 5 am to further reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions. It again completed an equality impact assessment and reached the same conclusion.
Mr B’s request Mr B has a disability which affects his mobility. His job means he often returns home in the hours of darkness. He has to park his electric vehicle behind his house so he can charge it then walk along an unlit road to the front of his house. He is worried that he will fall in the dark and make his condition worse. He asked the Council to turn the lighting in the road on for longer hours to reduce this risk but the Council refused his request.
The Council explained the outcome of the equality impact assessments. It also said its road safety audit team confirmed there were no road safety issues at this location to make an exception to the policy and the police confirmed there was insufficient night-time crime and disorder to require an exception to the policy. The Council explained it had to balance public safety with considerations such as residents’ concerns about light pollution, reducing carbon emissions and ensuring value for money for taxpayers. It explained that, for these reasons, it would not change the operation of the streetlights in Mr B’s road.
Analysis I find no evidence of fault in how the Council reached its decision. The Council, as highway authority, has no statutory duty to provide street lighting. This is a discretionary power which it may use according to its resources and assessments. The Council must balance its role in providing services and meeting the needs of residents with its financial resources. It has demonstrated that it considered relevant information when reaching its decision and has clearly explained its reasons for refusing Mr B’s request.
We may not question the merits of decisions which have been properly made. We do not comment on judgements councils make unless they are affected by fault in the decision-making process.
Mr B says the Council failed to apply the correct public sector equality duty assessment regarding the streetlight policy. He says it carried out a blanket assessment and did not complete an assessment in respect of the road in question.
The general equality duty does not set out a particular process for assessing impact on equality that public authorities are expected to follow. Having due regard to the aims of the general equality duty is about informed decision-making, not about carrying out particular processes or producing particular documents. However, public authorities may carry out an ‘equality impact assessment’ to assess the impact of a policy or decision on groups with protected characteristics.
Where we receive a complaint that an individual with protected characteristics has been unfairly disadvantaged by the introduction or revision to a council’s policy we will consider whether the council had regard to the public sector equality duty as part of its decision making.
I am satisfied the Council had regard to its public sector equality duty when reaching the decision to reduce the hours of night lighting. I am also satisfied with the equality impact assessments completed by the Council. There is no requirement for the Council to complete an assessment in respect of each individual road in its area as Mr B suggests.
Final decision
I do uphold Mr B’s complaint.
I have completed my investigation on the basis that I am satisfied with the Council’s actions.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman