The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to the complainants concerns about street lighting, anti-social behaviour and lack of taxi access in the town centre near his home. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s actions. Also, Mr X has not suffered a significant personal injustice.
The complaint
Mr X complains the Council has reduced street lighting in the town centre and prevented taxis from accessing a specific road.
Mr X says this has made him fearful when walking in the town centre at night.
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, or any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X complained about the: lack of street lighting aggressive beggars lack of taxi access; and use of e-bikes for deliveries.
The Council advised him to put in an online request for street lighting, to highlight where the problems are. It also provided contact details to report anti-social behaviour (ASB) and taxis.
Mr X is not happy with the response. I understand he thinks the Council should work in partnership with other authorities.
However, the Council responded to his complaint by providing the correct contact details to report his concerns to. We consider complaints about administrative fault. I have not seen enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.
Also, while I acknowledge Mr X is fearful when walking in the town centre at night, I do not consider he has suffered a significant personal injustice because of the Council’s actions.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault in the Council actions. Also, we do not consider Mr X has suffered a significant personal injustice.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman