Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s decision not to do works to some trees near her care home. There is not enough evidence of fault in the process the Council followed to reach its decision to warrant us investigating.

The complaint

1. Ms X runs a care home. Ms Y is one of the home’s staff, who has been dealing with the complaint for Ms X. Ms Y complains on behalf of Ms X that the Council has refused her request to reduce the height of several nearby tall trees which overhang the home’s property.
2. A smaller privately-owned tree fell on the property a few years ago. Ms X, staff and residents are concerned about the risk to them and the building from the Council’s trees. Ms X says the trees affect the home’s insurance costs, drop debris in gutters causing inconvenience and the expense of having it cleared out, and block light to the property. She wants the Council to reduce the trees’ height.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
4. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with 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))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Ms X, Ms Y and the Council, and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. In response to Ms X’s request for works to the trees, the Council’s officers visited twice, inspected them, and noted their location and proximity to the home. The Council’s policy is to only do work to trees when they are found to be dead, dying, diseased or dangerous, where they are touching property, or would be by the next inspection. Officers noted the trees had last been pruned in 2018 and reinspected in January 2021. After their inspections in response to Ms X’s complaint, they determined the health, condition and location of the trees meant no works were currently required.
7. For the Ombudsman to criticise a council’s professional judgement decision, there has to be evidence of fault in the process officers followed which, but for that fault, a different outcome would have been reached. In making its decision, the Council considered Ms X’s request and her reasons for wanting works done to the trees, and applied its policy. There is not enough evidence of fault in its decision‑making process which would allow us to go behind that Council decision here. I realise Ms X disagrees with it, but it is not fault for a council to properly make a decision with which someone disagrees.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault in the process the Council followed to decide not to do works to the trees to warrant us investigating.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman