The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council will not stop staff members parking on Mr X’s road, as any fault by the Council has not caused the injustice Mr X claims.
The complaint
Mr X complains the Council will not take action about its staff members parking their cars on his road. Mr X complains about access issues, due to the narrowness of the road and inconsiderate parking.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained; or another body is better placed to deal with the issues Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council has advised Mr X it can do little about where its staff members park their private cars, outside of the workplace though it says it has reminded staff on several occasions not to park inconsiderately.
The injustice to Mr X is caused by individual motorists, not the Council. In addition, it is for the police to deal with instances of obstructive parking. As such, there are not grounds for us to investigate this complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the injustice he claims is not caused by any Council fault.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman