The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about parking enforcement and traffic regulations. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.
The complaint
Mr X complained about the Council failing to serve penalties on cars breaching parking regulations near his home. He says it has led to obstruction, traffic hazards and confrontation with drivers. He wants the Council to carry out more enforcement and to introduce a parking permit scheme or additional restrictions.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended) 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 further investigation would not lead to a different outcome (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X says cars frequently park on yellow lines near his home causing inconvenience for residents. He says they are exposed to confrontation with drivers if they ask them to move. He says the Council does not respond quickly to reports of parking breaches and that enforcement officers do not patrol frequently enough.
The Council told him that it has increased patrols but it does not provide a call-out service for enforcement and it must use its resources to cover the whole Borough and not one area. Council’s have powers to enforce parking regulations on vehicles they find in breach under the Traffic management Act 2004. There is no statutory to attend all breaches and it would be impractical to do so with limited resources.
Mr X asked the Council to consider introducing a parking permit scheme or further regulations such as bollards and CCTV. The Council explained to Mr X that any further parking measures could only be introduced by way of a Traffic Regulation Order. At present this requires new development or support of a scheme by three ward councillors to trigger a review of regulations. These requirements have not applied to Mr X’s road but may be subject to reviews in future.
The Council is the highway authority and it has powers whether or not further traffic and parking management should be introduced. The Ombudsman may not question the merits of decisions which have been made in a proper manner. This means we will not intervene in disagreements about the merits of decisions. In this case the Council has explained reasonably to Mr X how parking enforcement and traffic regulations are operated in its area.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint about parking enforcement and traffic regulations. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman