The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s delay in installing a dropped kerb at his property. This is because the delay did not cause Mr X significant injustice.
The complaint
The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council took too long to install his dropped kerb. He says he spent a considerable amount of time chasing updated from the Council and this caused him significant stress. He also claims damage to his car from driving over the kerb to access his drive while he waited for the kerb to be dropped.
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) 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 Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
We do not investigate all the complaints we receive. In deciding whether to investigate we need to consider various tests. These include the alleged injustice to the person complaining. We only investigate the most serious complaints.
I appreciate Mr X is frustrated by the length of time it took the Council to install the dropped kerb but the Council has apologised and any injustice resulting from its actions is not significant enough to warrant investigation.
While Mr X considers the Council is responsible for damage to his vehicle this is a legal issue. Mr X may therefore wish to make a claim against the Council if he considers it liable. If he is not happy with the outcome of his claim, it would be reasonable for him to take the matter to court.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the Council’s delay did not cause Mr X significant injustice.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman