The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision not to issue parking contravention notices for vehicles partially parking across the complainant’s dropped kerb. We are unlikely to find fault in the Council’s actions.
The complaint
The complainant, I shall call Mr X, complains the Council has stopped issuing Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) to cars parked more than half a car wheel across his drive.
Mr X wants the Council to restore its original criteria for parking over a dropped kerb.
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 there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the Mr X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X has a dropped kerb outside his home to allow parking on his drive. He says the Council has previously issued PCNs for vehicles which partially overhang the dropped kerb.
The Council refers to the guidance published on its website which says: “…vehicles that are parked close to the dropped kerb but not physically preventing a vehicle from coming or going will not fall under the criteria of the contravention and a penalty will not be issued in such circumstances” Government guidance on enforcing parking restrictions says: “…the enforcement authority may wish to set out certain situations when a penalty charge should not be issued” The Council has explained that it will not issue PCNs on vehicles parked close to the dropped kerb but not physically preventing a vehicle from coming or going. This is a decision that it is allowed to make.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we are unlikely to find fault in the Council’s actions.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman