The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint that the Council refused to remove a tree outside her home. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault.
The complaint
Mrs X complains about the Council’s refusal to remove a tree outside her home, which she says obstructs the pavement. Mrs X wants the tree to be removed.
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, 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
A Council officer has visited the site and inspected the tree. They concluded the tree is healthy, has been in place for a number of years and is protected by a Tree Preservation Order. It concluded there were no grounds to remove the tree.
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is unlikely we would find fault in the Council’s actions. It is not for the Ombudsman to decide whether the tree should be removed. That is a matter for the professional judgement of the Council’s officers. The question for us is whether the Council made the decision in the right way, not the merits of the decision itself.
Mrs X disagrees with the decision, but without evidence of fault in the way it was made, we cannot criticise the Council’s actions.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman