Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council has failed to respond reasonably to the complainant’s request for tree works. This is because there is no evidence of fault on the Council’s part.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will refer to as Mr X, complains that the Council has failed to respond reasonably to his request for works to address nuisance caused by trees.

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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 the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X is responsible for ground maintenance at a football club. He says that the ground is adjacent to a park, and that fallen leaves and pine needles cause significant nuisance. In his view, some of the trees should be reduced in size and others removed entirely.
6. The Council has considered Mr X’s request and has declined to carry out works to the trees. It has set out that the trees do not require work and that nuisance caused by leaf fall is not a priority for it. Mr X regards the Council’s response as unreasonable.
7. It is not for the Ombudsman to take a view on whether the work Mr X wants should be carried out. Rather, it is to consider whether there is evidence of fault in the way Mr X’s request was considered and the way the Council reached its decision. There is no such evidence. The decision not to carry out the work is in line with the information the Council publishes regarding its tree maintenance priorities and is not demonstrably unreasonable.
8. Without evidence of fault, the Ombudsman cannot criticise the professional judgement of the Council’s officers or intervene to substitute an alternative view. There are no grounds for us to investigate the complaint.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is no evidence of fault on the Council’s part.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman