The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a controlled parking zone. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate.
The complaint
The complainant, who I refer to here as Mr B, complains on behalf of a residents’ association. He says the Council has failed to clarify a comments made by an officer to a resident. The comment was about a controlled parking zone (CPZ) created by the Council on 2020. Mr B believes the clarification is necessary so the association can respond properly to a planned review of the CPZ.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate. It says we cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended) 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 may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the Mr B which included the Council’s response to his concerns. I also considered our Assessment Code.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint. It is too late to investigate how the Council created the CPZ in 2020.
Any clarification of the comment which concerns Mr B would not materially affect the ability of the association or any individual resident to respond to any review of how the CPZ is working. It will be for the Council to decide what, if any, amendments to make to the scheme following the review.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman