Summary: Mr X complains about the Council’s decision to send him a letter about an obstruction of the footpath. We will not investigate the complaint because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Mr X, says the Council sent him a letter which threatened court action and fines about an obstruction of the footpath and which concerned false allegations made against him by a neighbour who the Council has sided with.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 do not start an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
5. I gave Mr X the opportunity to comment on my draft decision and considered what he said.

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My assessment

6. Mr X has a poor relationship with his neighbour and he complained to the Council about the way the neighbour parked his car on the footpath. The Council advised Mr X that this would be a matter for the police to investigate as would any claims made by Mr X that his neighbour was harassing him.
7. The Council received a complaint about property belonging to Mr X causing an obstruction of the footpath. The Council sent Mr X a letter to explain a complaint had been received and requesting the removal of the objects. It further explained what action might be taken if the request was not complied with, including the serving of a formal legal notice.
8. Mr X made a complaint to the Council about its actions which the Council responded to under its complaints procedure. It set out the action it had taken and an explanation why but it did not uphold Mr X’s complaint.
9. While I understand Mr X has been caused upset by these matters, I have seen no evidence to suggest there has been fault by the Council in the way it has dealt with them. It properly advised Mr X to contact the police about parking on the footpath and as it found the objects Mr X had placed on the footpath were causing an obstruction, it issued an informal letter requesting their removal.
10. In responding to my draft decision, Mr X says the problems with his neighbour continue and he has documentation to support this. However, our role is to consider whether there has been fault by the Council and I have seen no evidence to suggest fault affected the Council’s handling of matters relating to his placement of objects on the footpath.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman