Mr X complained about the Council’s failure to deal with his request for assistance in addressing the problems caused by his neighbour’s boundary trees. The Ombudsman found that the Council had passed Mr X’s enquiry onto a neighbouring local authority in error, which then did not take any action as the matter was not within their remit. He decided to settle the complaint without an investigation.
The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement to, within 20 working days, apologise to Mr X for the failure to properly process his request. The Council also agreed to explain its policy and procedure in respect of High Hedges, including confirmation of any applicable fee and details of any further information which was required from Mr X.