The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of Ms X’s reports of vehicles blocking her property and noise nuisance from vehicles from a nearby business. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an investigation.
The complaint
Ms X complains about the Council’s handling of her reports that vehicles are blocking her property so that she is unable to go out to appointments etc and that she cannot open her windows due to noise from a nearby business.
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 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 continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council has previously explained to Ms X that as there are no parking restrictions outside her property, it has no powers to stop vehicles parking there. It has also noted that as Ms X does not have a driveway or dropped kerb, a vehicle parked on the road would not prevent her from entering or leaving her property. If a Council vehicle was parking on the pavement and so close to her property she could not open her gate then Ms X can call the Council at the time to report the problem so it can take appropriate action. If it is a non-Council vehicle, she can report the matter to the police.
With regard to noise from the business close to Ms X’s home, the Council has previously received complaints from her about this and it contacted her in November 2023 to ask for further information so it could investigate matters but the case was closed as she did not provide any further information.
We do not investigate every complaint we receive, and we will not investigate where we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council. It has previously told Ms X that it cannot prevent vehicles parking in her street and if she is physically blocked in by a Council vehicle, she should report this at the time, providing vehicle registration details or report it to the police if it is a non-Council vehicle. It has previously sought to investigate her reports of noise nuisance but it will require her assistance in providing more information about the matter.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman