The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s Civil Enforcement Officers. This is because it is unlikely we could add anything to the response the complainant has already received.
The complaint
Miss X complained to the Council about its Civil Enforcement Officers (CEOs) who are employed to enforce parking restrictions. Miss X said the CEOs were harassing her. Miss X referred to being chased by a CEO which she said almost caused a traffic fatality. Miss X said a CEO had followed her. Miss X referred to two parking tickets she had received when staying in a hotel.
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 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) The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a tribunal. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
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 its response to Miss X’s complaint the Council said it had identified an incident when her car was parked without a ticket. During the five-minute grace period CEOs give motorists, Miss X returned to her car and drove off – “nearly colliding with a pedestrian."
The Council said its CEOs do not harass motorists. It said Miss X had not provided details of when a CEO followed her. It said if Miss X wanted to challenge the two parking tickets she had received, the appeals process was explained on the rear of the tickets.
We will not start an investigation into Miss X’s complaint. This is because it is unlikely we could add anything to the response Miss X has already received. We were not present at any of the incidents Miss X refers to, so we could not reach a safe conclusion about what happened. As the Council has explained, there is a process for motorists to follow if they want to challenge a Penalty Charge Notice. It was reasonable for Miss X to use this process and so we will not investigate.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is unlikely we could add anything to the response the complainant has already received.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman