The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s decision not to prune a tree close to her home. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault.
The complaint
Mrs X complains that the Council has refused to prune a tree that is dropping leaves onto her driveway.
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
There is a Council owned tree near Mrs X’s home. The branches overhang onto her property and drop leaves onto her driveway. Mrs X says this affects the maintenance of her driveway so asked the Council to cut back the branches.
In response, the Council said it had recently inspected the tree and decided no work was needed. The Council said that it only carries out work to trees when there is a safety issue and does not carry out work for reasons linked to leaf and seed fall.
I will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council responded appropriately by inspecting the tree and explaining why it will not prune it.
The Council’s response reflects its policy so there is no reason to start an investigation. We do not act as an appeal body, and we cannot intervene simply because a council makes a decision that someone disagrees with.
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