Essex County Council (24 020 064)
Category : Transport and highways > Highway repair and maintenance
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 14 Feb 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council has failed to revisit a complaint he made in 2023. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
- Mr X complains that the Council has failed to revisit a complaint he made in 2023 about the reporting of potholes. Mr X wants the Council to review the complaint, and if the complaint is upheld he wants the Council to review all insurance claims where liability had been denied.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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))
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The Council considered Mr X’s complaint along with the Council’s previous response and a related final decision issued by the Ombudsman. The Council said it found no fault with its previous response and that it considered the matter closed so would not respond further.
- I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. There is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council, as it considered all relevant information before deciding not to revisit the complaint made by Mr X in 2023. This is a conclusion the Council is entitled to reach and without evidence of fault we cannot question the merits of that decision.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman