Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with blocked rights of way. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will call Mr X, complains about how the Council has dealt with two public footpaths near his home which have been blocked by the landowner. Mr X wants the Council to take enforcement action against the landowner.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. There are two footpaths close to Mr X’s home which have been subject to temporary diversion orders due to nearby development work causing obstructions.
6. The Council accepts that closures have extended after diversion orders have expired but has decided either to extend the orders or to put new orders in place rather than take any enforcement action against the landowner. It says it decided to do this as it was the pragmatic approach and because it did not consider enforcement action to be in the public interest.
7. I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council’s enforcement powers are discretionary and must be used reasonably. In this case I am satisfied that the Council properly considered the facts of the case before deciding that it would extend the orders or apply new orders, rather than use its enforcement powers. Whilst Mr X strongly disagrees with the Council’s approach, this does not mean it has done anything wrong.
8. Mr X complains about how the Council dealt with his complaint about these matters. However, it is not a good use of public funds for us to investigate complaint handling in isolation when we are not investigating the substantive issues raised by a complainant.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman