Summary: We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint that the Council refused to extend her parking pass which she could not use for a period because of the COVID-19 national lockdown. This is because an investigation is unlikely to find the Council’s decision was affected by fault. Also, Mrs B has not suffered a significant injustice which would justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will refer to as Mrs B, complains about the Council’s decision not to extend her country park parking pass. Mrs B says her family could not use the parking pass for two months because they followed the government’s rule to stay local during national lockdown. Mrs B would like the Council to extend her parking pass by two months so she is not penalised for being responsible and trying to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

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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 or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

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

3. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have considered Mrs B’s complaint to us and her complaint correspondence with the Council. I have considered information about country park charges for parking on the Council website. I have also shared a draft version of this statement with Mrs B and invited her comments in response.

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What I found

What happened

5. Mrs B bought an annual parking pass from the Council which allows parking in the Council’s country parks. Information on the Council website says an annual pass costs £51.50.
6. Mrs B says she could not use the parking pass for two months in early 2021. This was because she followed the government rules to stay local during the national lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Mrs B says the nearest country park is nine miles from her home.
7. Mrs B asked the Council to extend her annual parking pass by two months to reflect the period she could not use the parking pass. The Council refused Mrs B’s request. The Council said:
• Its senior leadership team decided not to extend country park season ticket expiry dates because the Council’s country park car parks and main facilities have remained open and local travel for exercise is permitted.
• There is no clear definition of ‘local’ but it is generally considered to be within a local village or part of a town, and it is up to individuals to decide what they feel is reasonable given their own personal circumstances.
• The Council chose to extend ticket expiry dates during the first lockdown because the car parks were closed to everyone for a period and there was a clear way to compensate for this that was practical to administer.
8. Mrs B was not satisfied with the Council’s response, so complained to us.

Assessment

9. I will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint. This is for two reasons.
10. First, I find an investigation is unlikely to find the Council’s decision – not to extend annual parking passes – was affected by fault. The Council has explained its reasons for making this decision. The information suggests the Council took relevant factors into account. Unless there was fault in the way the Council reached this decision, we cannot say the decision was right or wrong.
11. Second, I find the alleged fault by the Council has not caused Mrs B a significant injustice which would justify an investigation by the Ombudsman. The injustice Mrs B suffered because of the alleged fault is that she paid for two months parking which she has not been able to use. The annual parking permit costs £51.50. So, in effect two months parking costs around £8.60. The Ombudsman must use public money carefully and we must focus our investigations on complaints of significant injustice. I find Mrs B has not suffered a significant injustice which would justify an investigation.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because an investigation is unlikely to find the Council’s decision was affected by fault. Also, Mrs B has not suffered a significant injustice which would justify an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman