Summary: Mr X complains the Council failed to paint yellow lines in his road because it forgot and then lied about it. The Ombudsman does not intend to investigate this complaint. We are unlikely to find fault in the Council’s actions. Nor is an investigation likely to lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Mr X says the Council agreed to paint yellow line parking restrictions in his road. He says workers marked up the road in January but never returned. Officers old him this was because they probably forgot.

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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
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome

(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 Mr X and the Council. Mr X commented on the draft version of this decision.

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What I found

4. The road where Mr X lives suffers from parking congestion. He says this causes problems as emergency services such as ambulances cannot access some properties including his own. It also causes problems for wheelchair and mobility scooter users as the pavements are blocked.
5. Council staff attended the road in January. They marked up the road for painting but did not return.
6. Mr X says he contacted the Council and an officer told him they probably forgot to go back and finish it.
7. The Council says it is normal practice and the responsibility of the engineer to prepare the road before the painting teams attend.
8. It also says road markings are installed using thermoplastic screed material. They can only apply this material on dry surfaces free from dirt or de-icing salts.
9. The road was prepared 27 January. However, the Council says the line painting was postponed due to wet weather. It says further delays have occurred because of the impact of Coronavirus outbreak in March. Some staff have been in self-isolation or are working on higher priority tasks. Also, the Council is choosing not to carry out some work where social distancing may be compromised.
10. The Council says it cannot confirm when it will complete the line painting. However, it will complete the work when it is safe to do so and the weather allows.
11. Mr X also complaint the Council failed to respond to emails and were rude to him. We expect Councils to respond to complaints according to its complaints procedure. However, we do not usually investigate these concerns when we are not investigating the main complaint. This is because we do not consider that a failure in the complaints process alone causes sufficient injustice to warrant an Ombudsman investigation.

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Final decision

12. I will not investigate this complaint. I understand Mr X is frustrated by the delay in installing the yellow lines. I cannot comment on his report that an officer told him the Council had forgotten to complete the work. However, I have not seen evidence of fault in the Council’s actions and further investigation is unlikely to lead to a different outcome. We are unlikely to find fault in the Council’s actions and further investigation is unlikely to lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman