Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s management of a tree. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council:
• Has not properly managed a tree near her home;
• Wrongly accepted payment for her application to buy land it did not own; and
• Communicated with her poorly.

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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 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))
3. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. 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)
4. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mrs X has been unhappy with the Council’s management of the tree since 2005. I will not consider matters arising before October 2022, which is 12 months before Mrs X raised the complaint with the Ombudsman, as they are out of time and there is no good reason to exercise discretion.
8. In 2023, after considering Mrs X’s complaint the Council completed a site visit and decided to remove some branches from the tree. It explained to Mrs X why it would not reduce the height of the tree. Mrs X remained unhappy with the Council’s decision, however there is no evidence of fault in its decision making and therefore we cannot question the outcome.
9. Mrs X says her application to buy land is a historical matter and therefore it is late, and I will not consider it now.
10. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about poor communication if we are not investigating the substantive issue.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman