The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about a local road which he says is hazardous to the public. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
Mr X complains a local road where he walks his dog is hazardous to the public due to waste that is discarded there. Mr X complains the Council does not clean the road and wants it to set up a regular cleaning programme. Mr X’s dog was injured by debris on the road, and he would like to be compensated for the distress caused by this.
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 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 continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended) We cannot question whether a council’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) The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council has carried out a site visit to the area in question. The Council says the land is privately owned and the private landowner is responsible for dealing with the waste on the land. The Council says any waste on the land is not visible from the public highway and is not excessive. As such, it says it also has no enforcement role in this issue.
I have not seen evidence that the Council is at fault in reaching this view and as per paragraph three, we cannot therefore question its assessment.
If Mr X remains of the view that the Council is responsible for the injury to his dog, then it is open to him to seek compensation via court action. We are not able to determine negligence cases; only the courts can do this.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman