The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s decision not to extend parking restrictions to deal with inconsiderate parking. This is because the matter does not cause Mr X significant personal injustice and it is unlikely investigation would lead to any worthwhile outcome.
The complaint
The complainant, Mr X, complains about the Council’s decision not to proceed with a proposal to extend a controlled parking zone or double yellow lines to discourage inconsiderate parking. He is concerned that motorists blocking the pavement present a safety risk for children and parents.
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)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
We do not investigate all the complaints we receive. In deciding whether to investigate we need to consider various tests. These include the alleged injustice to the person complaining. We only investigate the most serious complaints.
Mr X says he is frustrated by the parking which he says causes children to walk in the road, putting them at risk. But his frustration is not a significant injustice and it results more from the actions of inconsiderate motorists than any fault by the Council. It is therefore unlikely that we could achieve any worthwhile outcome for Mr X by investigating this matter further. This is because there are already parking restrictions along the road and extending them would not prevent motorists from blocking the pavement.
Mr X has provided three photographs and two show vehicles stopped on double yellow lines with one parked almost entirely on the pavement. This is not allowed and amounts to a contravention of the rules for which the Council could issue a penalty charge notice (PCN). But it has clearly not put motorists off and it is difficult to see how extending the current restrictions would change this. The Council has confirmed it has asked its parking enforcement department to visit the area more regularly but its civil enforcement officers cannot be present all the time. So while an extension of existing restrictions may increase the area over which the rules could be enforced, it is unlikely to resolve the issue complained of.
There is also insufficient evidence of fault by the Council in its handling of this matter. As part of the process for introducing new parking restrictions the Council consults with local residents for their views. But this consultation is not a referendum so the decision ultimately relies on the professional judgement of council officers. The Council confirms little support for any extension of the existing restrictions and it has concerns about the impact of any extension on residents in any event. It also considers it should allow time to monitor for any improvement resulting from the actions it agreed in its response to Mr X’s complaint at Stage 1 of its complaints process, before determining whether any further action is needed. This is a decision the Council is entitled to reach.
Mr X is also unhappy with the way the Council dealt with his complaint. But it is not a good use of public resources to look at the Council’s complaints handling if we are not going to look at the substantive issue complained about. We will not therefore investigate this issue separately.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the matter does not cause Mr X significant injustice and it is unlikely we could achieve any worthwhile outcome for Mr X by investigating it further.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman