Summary: Ms W complained the Council failed to accept responsibility for flooding and has not taken corrective action to fix defective road drainage. We have found the Council at fault for failing to complete repair work to damaged drainage. To remedy the injustice caused the Council has agreed to apologise to Ms W and repair the defective road drainage.

The complaint

1. Ms W complained the Council:
• Failed to accept responsibility for flooding and has not taken corrective action to fix defective road drainage.
• Failed to acknowledge her complaints and correspondence.
• Failed to comply within its complaint policy timeframes and did not complete thorough investigations.
2. Ms W says the Council’s failure to act has caused flooding to her front garden and she lives in threat of flooding to her home. She says the Council has caused her considerable inconvenience, anxiety and stress. Ms W would like the Council to read her correspondence and provide a proper reply. She would also like the Council to investigate the defective drainage, accept responsibility and fix the issue.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I discussed the complaint with Ms W and considered the information she provided.
6. I made enquiries of the Council and considered its response.
7. Ms W and the Council had an opportunity to comment on a draft version of this decision. I considered any comments I received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Legal and administrative background

Council complaint policy

8. The Council complaint policy sets out a two stage process.
9. At stage one of the process a suitable manager should respond directly within 10 working days. If the Council cannot respond within 10 workings days, it should let the complainant know the reason.
10. If the complainant is not satisfied with the stage one outcome they can ask for a stage two review. The service manager for the service the complaint is about should provide a stage two complaint response within 20 working days. If the response will be delayed the Council should let the complainant know.

What happened

11. Ms W contacted the Council in November 2023 to report a blocked drain near her home which was causing the footpath in front of her property to become flooded.
12. A Council team visited the site at the end of November and cleaned the drain. The team reported it left the drain clean and in working order and there was a dip in the footpath which was causing it to flood.
13. In early January 2024 the Council received a report of flooding from Ms W’s neighbour. The Council told Ms W’s neighbour it had completed an inspection of the area and contacted the water company it believed was responsible for the maintenance of the drainage.
14. The Council completed further drain cleaning work in January and requested the water company attend the site.
15. The water company completed a site visit in January 2024 and told the Council it believed the flooding could be due to a high build up of silt and debris restricting drainage capacity. The water company told the Council it did not believe this drainage was part of its network assets.
16. The water company completed further investigations and wrote to the Council again in July 2024. The water company confirmed the sewer is in the highway and therefore not an asset of the water company.
17. In response to our enquiries the Council told us it had completed its own survey on the drainage. This survey showed there is damage to parts of the drainage system which require ‘urgent consideration of repairs to avoid total failure’. The Council told us it did not complete any repair work to the drainage system as there was still a question on the ownership of the pipes. In response to our draft decision the Council accepted the drainage in question is its responsibility.

Complaint handling

18. Between the end of November 2023 and January 2024 Ms W sent three emails to the Council to raise concerns about the flooding and provide further evidence to show the extent of the impact.
19. The Council told us it did not receive these emails due to wrong email addresses being used. This was not picked up until the Council completed its enquiry response.
20. Ms W sent a formal complaint to the Council at the end of January 2024. The Council did not provide a response to this complaint.
21. Ms W raised a stage two complaint in April 2024 as she had not received a stage one complaint response. The Council issued a stage two response 25 working days later.
22. The stage two complaint response did not provide an apology for failing to provide a stage one complaint response and it failed to respond to all the points raised in Ms W’s initial complaint. The stage two response does not say whether the complaint has been upheld and it was not completed by a service manager.

My findings

23. The Council accepts the drainage system is its responsibility. I have seen no reason the Council should not complete the repair work. This is fault which has caused Ms W frustration and uncertainty.
24. The Council did not follow its complaint policy and failed to respond to Ms W’s stage one complaint. This is fault which caused Ms W frustration and uncertainty.
25. The Council did not follow its complaint policy when providing its stage two complaint response. This is fault which caused Ms W frustration and uncertainty.
26. There is no fault in the Council not responding to Ms W’s correspondence between November 2023 and January 2024 as the Council did not receive these emails.

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Agreed action

27. Within one month of the final decision the Council will:
• Apologise to Ms W for the faults identified. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The Council should consider this guidance in making the apology.
• Determine a plan for how and when it intends to complete the repair works to the drainage system to prevent the flooding issue recurring outside Ms W’s property. The Council should share this plan with Ms W.
• remind its highway maintenance and customer service teams about following its complaint policy, including to ensure a response is provided at Stage 1 and that a Stage 2 response is provided by a Service Manager which appropriately addresses all points and the outcome of complaints.
28. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

29. We uphold this complaint. The Council has agreed to remedy the injustice caused by the faults identified.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman