Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about difficulties the complainant had renewing his parking permit. This is because the Council has provided a fair response and there is not enough remaining injustice to require an investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains about problems he had renewing his parking permit. In particular he complains about the Council’s decision not to award compensation.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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:

• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6) & 24A(7), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence. I also considered our Assessment Code.

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My assessment

4. Mr X has had parking permits since 2015. He had not previously had any problems renewing the permit.
5. He tried to renew the permit in 2023. The Council rejected his application because he did not send a copy of the log book. Mr X complained and said the Council had not asked for a copy and there was no link to upload a copy.
6. In response the Council said a copy of the log book had been required since 2020. It apologised for the inconvenience and said it would review the site to make it clearer what evidence is required and to consider the improvements Mr X had requested. The Council apologised for a late response to a complaint.
7. Mr X received the new permit before the previous one expired but said the process wasted his time and money.
8. Mr X is satisfied with the Council’s explanation and apology but remains unhappy because it has not awarded compensation. Mr X wants compensation for stress, inconvenience and use of his resources.
9. I will not investigate this complaint because the Council has provided a satisfactory response by apologising and agreeing to review the renewal process. I appreciate Mr X had to spend time pursuing his complaint but the impact does not reach the threshold to require either an investigation or compensation. In saying this I have noted that the permit was renewed before the deadline and Mr X has not suffered a financial loss. I acknowledge he may have incurred some call costs but it is normal to spend a small amount of time and money when making a complaint; we would only ask a council to consider paying compensation if the time or money was more than would reasonably be expected. In this case the matter was resolved quickly and the Council apologised for a response which was a little late. And, as I have said, the Council has agreed to review its procedures. There is nothing to suggest we need to start an investigation or ask the Council for compensation.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the Council has already provided a satisfactory response and there is not enough outstanding injustice to require an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman