Summary: Mrs X complains the Council changed the date she can apply for visitor parking permits without telling her. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint as the injustice she suffered is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council changed the date she can buy visitor parking permits without telling her.

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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 the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A (6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered the information provided by Mrs X including the Council’s response to her complaint.

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What I found

4. Mrs X’s home is in a controlled parking zone. As a resident, she can buy up to 4 books of visitor parking permits at half-price on the anniversary of the first purchase. Permits ordered at any other time will cost the full price. Mrs X says the anniversary of her first purchase is 4 November each year.
5. In November she applied for 4 books of visitor permits at half-price. She says the Council told her the anniversary date had been moved to December, therefore she would have to pay the full price.
6. Mrs X complained to the Council. It told her the anniversary date is the date the permits are dispatched, rather than purchased. Mrs X says the Council were late in sending her permits in 2018 even though she had paid for them. She considers it unfair for the Council to move the anniversary date without telling her.

Assessment

7. The Ombudsman will not normally investigate a complaint unless there is good reason to believe the complainant has suffered significant personal injustice. And this is a direct result of the actions or inactions of the service provider. This means that we will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures by the service provider.
8. Mrs X feels the Council has been unreasonable and the anniversary date should be the anniversary of the original purchase rather than the dispatch date. However, she has confirmed that she did not have to buy any visitor permits at the full rate as she borrowed those she needed from a neighbour.
9. While I understand Mrs X was inconvenienced and found the matter stressful. However, I do not consider she has suffered any significant personal injustice which warrant the expense of an Ombudsman investigation.

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Final decision

10. I will not investigate this complaint. The injustice Mrs X suffered is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman