The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Miss B’s complaint about the Council’s decision to stop providing her with visitor parking permits. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.
The complaint
Miss B complains the Council has stopped providing her with visitor permits for the residents parking zone where she lives. Miss B says her development only provides her with one parking space which she needs for her car. Miss B says the Council’s decision has meant she can no longer have visitors and cannot get tradespeople to do work to her property. Miss B would like the Council to allow her to have visitor permits just like other residents on her road.
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 Miss B. I have also considered planning records and information about resident parking permits, both available on the Council’s website.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council says it recently realised that the development where Miss B lives provides off street parking for residents. This is set out in the planning permission for this development which required parking provision to be provided off the highway. So, the Council has now blocked all requests for resident or visitor parking permits from residents of these apartments.
The Council says this decision was in line with its resident parking permit terms and conditions. These say occupants of new build, conversions of existing properties into multiple units, and premises that create multiple occupations may be denied parking and are not guaranteed the right to a permit.
Also, as a general rule any new residential properties will only ‘inherit’ the permit allocation of the original building. The Council says the building prior to being converted did not have an allocation of parking permits, so there is nothing to inherit.
I have not seen any information to suggest the Council’s decision to stop issuing Miss B with visitor parking permits was affected by fault. The Council has explained why it has stopped issuing permits to residents of Miss B’s building. The Council’s reasons are in line with the terms and conditions of the scheme which try to balance the supply of permits with the availability of parking spaces.
This was a decision for the Council to make and it is not our role to tell the Council it should operate this scheme differently. So, an investigation is not justified.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss B’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman