The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council closing some spaces in a car park for a civic visit. There is insufficient evidence if any significant injustice caused to Mr X by fault which would warrant an investigation.
The complaint
Mr X complained about the Council cordoning off several parking spaces in a car park to allow for a civic visit. He says this denied parking to the public and the Council should have paid for the time the spaces were unavailable.
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, or any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation.
(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
Mr X says the Council cordoned off several parking spaces in a public car park for a few hours so that a civic visit could take place. He says the spaces were blocked by enforcement officers and that this was an abuse of civic power as the officials and officers did not pay for the occupied spaces.
The Council says it owns the car park and that it has authority to suspend parking availability or charges on its own land. The spaces were required for a civic matter and the enforcement officers ensured that the spaces were blocked from use to prevent parking by the public which may have incurred a penalty. It is not required to charge for spaces which are not in operation for public use or for its own vehicles.
There is insufficient evidence that the suspension of the parking spaces for a limited time caused Mr X any significant injustice. Whilst he may disagree with the use of the Council’s land for this purpose there is no right to park by the public on Council land and he did not incur any penalties.
Not all complaints received by us are accepted for investigation. The legislation gives us discretion as to whether a complaint should be pursued and, in reaching that decision, a preliminary assessment is made. We have to take account of the degree of injustice sustained and whether there is any realistic chance of achieving a satisfactory outcome.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint about the Council closing some spaces in a car park for a civic visit. There is insufficient evidence if any significant injustice caused to Mr X by fault which would warrant an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman