Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about a parked car outside the complainant’s house. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault and injustice. In addition, the Ombudsman could not achieve the outcome the complainant wants.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains the Council has not taken any action after he complained that a parked car outside his home prevented street cleaning. He wants the Council to bring in a policy to limit parking.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

3. I read the complaint and the Council’s response. I looked at an image of Mr X’s street on streetview. I invited Mr X to comment on a draft of this decision.

Back to top

What I found

What happened

4. Mr X told the Council that a car had been parked outside his house since late 2019. He asked the Council to contact the owner and ask for it to be moved. Mr X says the car stops the Council doing adequate street cleaning or weed control.
5. In response the Council visited and found the street is being cleaned to the correct standard. The Council said the street is swept manually every two weeks and mechanically every six weeks. The Council said the car was not having a detrimental impact on the street scene or to the area directly outside Mr X’s home.
6. Mr X is dissatisfied with the reply. He pays council tax and says he is entitled to the same street cleaning service as his neighbours. He wants the Council to introduce a policy which restricts how long a car can park outside someone’s hose and limit when the car can return. He also wants the Council to be more proactive in sorting out problems.

Assessment

7. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council responded appropriately by inspecting the area and establishing that the condition of the street is acceptable and the car has little or no impact.
8. I also will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of injustice. I appreciate Mr X may be annoyed by the car and may think it prevents adequate cleaning. However, I have looked at images of the street and a parked car would make little difference to the cleaning regime. And, while I recognise Mr X’s strength of feeling, this does not represent an injustice which requires an investigation.
9. Finally, I will not start an investigation because it is for the Council, not the Ombudsman, to decide what policies to adopt. It would be for the Council to decide whether to introduce parking restrictions although it is far from clear that it would have the power to introduce the restrictions that Mr X has suggested.

Back to top

Final decision

10. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault and injustice, and because I cannot achieve the outcome Mr X would like.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman