Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council refused his application for a dropped kerb. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault affecting the decision.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains about the Council’s decision to refuse his application for a dropped kerb. He says the Council has approved his neighbours' applications and he believes the decision on his application is unfair.

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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 Mr X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Councils are entitled to set policies and criteria for approving applications for dropped kerbs. Where an application does not meet the criteria and goes against the council’s policy the council may refuse it.
6. We are not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong.
7. The Council refused Mr X’s application for a dropped kerb because he did not meet two of its criteria. These criteria concerned the depth of his front garden, and therefore the amount of space available to park a vehicle, and the proximity of his property to a junction. The Council also had concerns about trees in the grass verge outside Mr X’s property which may be affected by installation of a dropped kerb, however it did not investigate this further because his application failed to meet the other criteria.
8. Mr X is unhappy with the Council’s decision to refuse his application because he says it has approved other applications from his neighbours whose applications also do not meet its criteria. But the Council must decide each case on its merits and even if it made a mistake in granting permission to Mr X’s neighbours this does not show its decision in Mr X’s case is wrong. Mr X acknowledges he does not meet the criteria for a dropped kerb and we could not therefore say the Council must grant him permission to install one.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault affecting the Council’s decision on Mr X’s application.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman