Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision that Mr X was liable for the costs of repairing damage to the highway. It is unlikely we would find fault.

The complaint

1. Mr X was unhappy the Council decided he was liable for a charge of the costs to repair the highway near his home. He said this decision was unfair and the Council had not provided sufficient evidence he was responsible for the damage, or given him an opportunity to dispute the charges.
2. Mr X said the Council should either provide this evidence or rescind the charges. He said this caused him unnecessary stress and could affect him financially.

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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 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 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))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr X completed building work at his home. In early 2024, the Council wrote to him saying it identified damage to the highway and said the damage had occurred during the building work at his home. It notified him of the costs it had incurred in repairing the damage. Mr X complained about this decision, because he said he was not responsible.
7. The Council replied to Mr X and explained it was acting under its power under the Highways Act 1980, which allows it to recover the expense of making good any damage that had been caused during building work, from the relevant landowner. It also provided Mr X with an explanation of how it came to this decision, including visits to his street by an officer before and after building work, and photographs it had taken.
8. We will not investigate this complaint. The Council has a legal power to recover expenses in these circumstances and the evidence at hand shows it visited Mr X’s property at key times and gathered evidence, and on that evidence decided Mr X was liable for the charges. It also provided Mr X with an explanation about how it came to this conclusion. Given these factors it is unlikely we would find fault in the way the Council decided to recover the costs from Mr X and explained its decision.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is unlikely we would find fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman