The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to put down bus stop markings rather than the double yellow lines Mr X had requested out the front of his property. This is because an investigation is unlikely to lead to a different outcome.
The complaint
Mr X complains it took nearly a year for the Council to respond to his request that it consider installing double yellow lines on a small stretch of road by his house on a busy road and that when it did it said it would be putting down bus stop markings instead. He says the bus markings should already have been down and yellow lines should be added.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’ which we call ‘fault’. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended) 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, or any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.
(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, including its response to his complaint.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X contacted the Council to request that double yellow lines be installed outside his property to address congestion and dangerous parking on the pavements in the area.
A councillor visited him but he did not hear anything further until he made a formal complaint 10 months later. In responding to his complaint, the Council told Mr X that, at the councillor’s request, it had started a proposal to install a Bus Stop Clearway for the bus stop by his property to keep it clear of parked vehicles. It confirmed Mr X would be consulted as part of this process and that it had raised with the police, the appropriate body, the issue of pavement parking.
It apologised to Mr X that it had taken so long for him to receive a response to his concerns but confirmed bus markings had been decided as the most suitable way forward and that with their installation the placing of double yellow lines would not be necessary.
It is not our role to act as a point of appeal against decisions made by councils with which complainants disagree. We cannot question council decisions if they have followed the right steps and considered the relevant evidence and information. While it did delay in responding to him, the Council considered the concerns he had raised but decided that bus stop markings would be the best way forward. This is a decision for the Council to make and its merits are not open to review by the Ombudsman.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because an investigation is unlikely to lead to a different outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman