Kingston upon Thames Council (202116741)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202116741

Kingston upon Thames Council

26 October 2021


Our approach

What we can and cannot consider is called the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction and is governed by the Housing Ombudsman Scheme. The Ombudsman must determine whether a complaint comes within their jurisdiction. The Ombudsman seeks to resolve disputes wherever possible but cannot investigate complaints that fall outside of this. 

In deciding whether a complaint falls within their jurisdiction, the Ombudsman will carefully consider all the evidence provided by the parties and the circumstances of the case.

The complaint

  1. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of street lighting repairs.

Determination (jurisdictional decision)

  1. When a complaint is brought to the Ombudsman, we must consider all the circumstances of the case as there are sometimes reasons why a complaint will not be investigated.
  2. After carefully considering all the evidence, I have determined that the complaint, as set out above, is not within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.

Summary of events

  1. The resident is a secure tenant of the Council. They made a complaint to the Council about the landlord’s handling of repairs to streetlighting.
  2. In correspondence with the Council, the resident referred to reports made by another resident on ‘fixmystreet.com’, advising that the street lighting was broken on 20 February 2021 and 23 March 2021
  3. The resident contacted the Council on 14 April 2021 regarding repairs to a streetlight that the resident advised had been ongoing for several months. The resident advised contractors had attended the streetlight on four occasions from December 2020 to March 2021.
  4. The resident escalated their complaint and advised they are seeking for the Council to provide further clarification as to the status of the street lighting over the past few months. The resident raised concerns that the Council had advised the contractors found no fault in February 2021 but on attendance in March 2021 the lamp was replaced.
  5. The Council issued a final response to the resident’s complaint on 18 May 2021. The Council did not uphold the complaint, advising reports of issues with the streetlight were attended to correctly. It advised the resident that the contractor reattended the faulty light on 16 April 2021 and again on the 26 April 2021 and found the light in good working order.
  6. The resident provided a copy of the Council’s final response to this Service on 26 May 2021.

Reasons

  1. Paragraph 36 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme states that…

The person complaining, or on whose behalf a complaint is made must have been, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, adversely affected by those actions or omissions in respect of their application for, or occupation of, property.

  1. The complaint is about street lighting which does not affect the resident’s occupation of their property. The Ombudsman investigates housing complaints about the actions or omissions of a member landlord that affect a resident’s occupation of property.
  2. As the complaint does not relate to the occupancy of the resident’s property, the Ombudsman cannot consider the complaint further. The matter may fall within the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s remit, of which further information can be found here: Home – Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman