The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council has delayed repairing the complainants fence. This is because the Council has been arranged for the work to take place in November and further investigation is unlikely to lead to a different outcome.
The complaint
The complainant, who I will call Mr X, complains that the Council has delayed carrying out repairs to his fence, caused by people parking in a council run car park. Mr X says the Council should prioritise the work to his fence.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X owns a property which backs onto a council run car park. In February 2022, Mr X contacted the Council to raise concerns about damage to his fence cause by people reversing into parking spaces. The Council agreed to install a bollard to stop people reversing into his fence and when this work was completed it would repair his fence.
In May, after the bollard had been installed, the Council arranged for Mr X’s fence to be inspected. The Council has since said that the work has been arranged for early November.
I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because further investigation will not lead to a different outcome. The Council has said it has a backlog of work to do and has to prioritise more urgent work first. It therefore cannot carry out the repairs to Mr X’s fence any sooner. Whilst I acknowledge this is frustrating for Mr X, and that he would like the work to be carried out sooner than November, this is not something that we could realistically achieve
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we could not achieve a different outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman