London Borough of Lambeth (23 017 189)
Category : Transport and highways > Street furniture and lighting
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 21 Mar 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council has dealt with a report of faulty street lights. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
- Mr X complains about how the Council has dealt with his report of faulty street lights on a road leading to his home. Mr X says the lack of lighting makes the road unsafe at night.
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))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- In response to Mr X’s report, the Council arranged for the street lights to be inspected and it was found that the issues relate to the power supply. The Council escalated the matter to the relevant distribution network operator who inspected the the street lights and carried out some work, unfortunately there was a delay in this work commencing due to stormy weather. The Council has been in regular contact with the distribution network operator and whilst they cannot say when it will be carrying out further work to rectify the issue.
- I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council has taken appropriate action in regard to Mr X’s concerns by escalating it to distribution network operator and has been in regular contact with them. Whilst the matter is taking some time to resolve, we cannot hold the Council responsible for any delay and have no jurisdiction to investigate the actions of the distribution network operator.
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