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Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council (25 029 541)

Category : Transport and highways > Highway repair and maintenance

Decision : Closed after initial enquiries

Decision date : 14 Jul 2026

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to replace parking signage on a single lamppost in Mr X’s road. We do not consider that Mr X has suffered a significant personal injustice which justifies an investigation.

The complaint

  1. Mr X complains the about the Council’s failure to replace parking signage on a single lamp post in hiss road when the lamp post was replaced.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. 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))

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How I considered this complaint

  1. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
  2. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

  1. A lamp post in Mr X’s road was replaced. However, signage stating parking restrictions was not replaced.
  2. The Council has confirmed there are three lamp posts with the signs in the road and others in the immediate area.

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Final decision

  1. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we do not consider that the decision not to replace a single parking sign in his road has caused him a significant personal injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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