The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to continue with a low traffic neighbourhood scheme. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault.
The complaint
Mrs X complains about the Council’s decision to continue with a Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) scheme on roads close to her home. Mrs X says the Council continued with the scheme, despite being aware of concerns by the Police about emergency response times.
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 no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)) If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), 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 introduced a trial LTN scheme in early 2023. The Council held discussions with the police in May 2023 about what impact the scheme was having on emergency response times. During the discussions the Police did not ask for the scheme to be stopped.
Whilst I note that Mrs X strongly disagreed with the Council’s decision to continue with the LTN trial, there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. It made its decision to continue with trial after considering information from, and holding discussions, with the Police.
We are not an appeal body, and it is not our role to question the merits of the Council’s decision when there is no sign of fault in the way that decision was reached. This is the case here. Furthermore, the Council has recently made the decision to end the scheme and therefore there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by investigating the matter.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman