Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council not adopting a road. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council had failed to remove illegally parked cars from a private road. He said the parked cars reduced access to his business and had left him open to abuse from another business owner. Mr X wants the Council to adopt the road and take action against the business owner.

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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 or continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about how the Council dealt with the parked vehicles. The vehicles are parked on a private road, and there are no parking restrictions on the road. Therefore, the Council does not have powers of enforcement on the road. It could only remove the vehicles if it considered them abandoned. The Council’s complaint response indicates it does not consider the vehicles abandoned.
6. The Council referred the matter of untaxed parked vehicles to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). It confirmed the DVLA was responsible for removing untaxed vehicles. It told Mr X to contact the Police if vehicles were obstructing access to his business. It said the Police had issued a Community Protection Warning (CPW) to businesses on the road about the parked vehicles. I am satisfied the Council took sufficient steps to deal with Mr X’s complaint about the parked vehicles. There is not enough evidence of fault in how the Council dealt with Mr X’s complaint to justify our involvement.
7. The Council is not under a duty to adopt the road. It explained the process for road adoption and that it was the responsibility of the businesses which are situated on the frontage of the road to pursue any adoption. We will not investigate this complaint further. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman