The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about parking enforcement, because some of the complaint is late and there are no good reasons it could not have been made sooner. Of the remainder of Mr X’s complaint, the Council gave Mr X an explanation and any further investigation would likely not lead to a different outcome. In any case there is no significant injustice.
The complaint
Mr X said the Council failed to support him for a long period of time and said specifically in 2022 and more recently, had not acted properly in relation to how it dealt with his complaints about parking enforcement.
Mr X said this has affected his quality of life.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended) 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: any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
(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 I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X complained to the Council in 2022 about its response to parking obstruction and the way an enforcement officer spoke to him. The Council replied, but Mr X said the Council never fully dealt with his complaint. We will not investigate here, because this is a late complaint and there are no good reasons why it could not have been made sooner.
Mr X then complained in 2024 about the Council’s response to another parking obstruction he had reported. In the Council’s response it provided an explanation for its actions and given its explanation and response here, I am satisfied further investigation would likely not lead to a different outcome.
In any case, any injustice the Council’s actions may have caused Mr X, is not significant enough to warrant an investigation.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because parts are late and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. Furthermore, there is no significant injustice.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman