The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to make a charge for parking permits for electric vehicles. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
The complainant, Mr X, disagrees with the Council’s decision to charge a fee for parking permits for electric cars. Mr X disputes the reasons provided by the Council and says that as his car is zero rated for emissions he should not pay for a permit.
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 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 Mr X and the Council. This includes information about permit charges. I also considered our Assessment Code.
My assessment
In late 2022 the Council considered various options regarding charges for parking permits.
The Council decided to introduce a charge for vehicles with an emissions rating between 0% and 50% (tier one charge). The charges for tier one started from August 2023. One of the reasons for introducing a charge for tier one was that these vehicles still produce some emissions.
The cost of an annual tier one permit is £33 a year.
Mr X disagrees with the charge. He has an electric vehicle which has zero rated emissions so he says he should not have to pay for a permit. He disagrees with the reasons provided by the Council as to why it introduced the charge. For example, Mr X does not accept that electric cars add to congestion or take up parking spaces. He says the charge is unreasonable and he has not had to pay for a permit for four years.
I will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council’s cabinet decided to introduce tier one charges after considering different options. Mr X disagrees with the decision but that disagreement does not mean the Council has done anything wrong.
We do not act as an appeal body and it is not our role to tell councils what decisions to make or what policy changes to introduce. Mr X can speak to his local councillors and explain why he disagrees with the decision and what changes he would like the Council to make to the permit scheme. But, it would be for the Council, not us, to decide whether to change the policy in relation to tier one charges.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman