North Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council (25 004 289)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council granting permission for a vehicle crossover. We do not consider the complainant has suffered a significant personal injustice because of the Council’s actions.
The complaint
- Mr X complains about the Council’s decision to grant permission to his neighbour for a vehicle crossover (VAX). He says it is the only crossover design of its kind in the road and the public footpath has not been reinforced. Mr X says this could lead to the Council granting permission for more VAXs in the future.
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 or continue an investigation if we decide any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
(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 the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X says the Council failed to apply its own policy on VAXs. This has set a precedent for the area.
- The Council explained to Mr X it is satisfied that the neighbour’s VAX complies with its policy.
- While Mr X is dissatisfied with the response, the Council’s decision to grant a permission for his neighbour’s VAX does not set a precedent. It is for the Council to consider each application it receives and to determine the impact of those in each case.
- From the information I have seen, Mr X is still able to access his driveway over his own VAX and there appears to be sufficient on street parking. Therefore, we will not investigate this complaint because Ms X has not been caused a significant personal injustice.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we do not consider he has suffered a significant personal injustice which warrants our involvement.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman