Summary: We will not investigate Mr X's complaint about the Council's decision not to remove a parking bay and its consideration of its Equality Act duties. This is because further investigation is unlikely to find evidence of fault in the Councils actions.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council did not properly consider his concerns about a parking bay opposite his garage. He says the bay makes access difficult, creates safety risks, and affects him because of his age and health. He believes the Council relied on outdated information, did not give due regard to its Equality Act duties, and responded dismissively to his concerns. Mr X says this has caused stress, inconvenience, and worry about safely accessing his garage. He wants the Council to apologise, carry out updated safety and equality assessments, change the parking bay layout, and improve its decision-making and complaint handling.

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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, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or

there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

3. We cannot decide if an organisation has breached the Equality Act as this can only be done by the courts. But we can make decisions about whether or not an organisation has properly taken account of an individual’s rights in its treatment of them.

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. There is a parking bay opposite Mr X's garage that the Council says has been in place for about 27 years. Mr X says vehicles parked in the bay make it difficult to access his garage and create safety concerns. Mr X asked the Council to remove or relocate the parking bay.
7. The Council considered Mr X's request through the Traffic Regulation Order process. Officers recommended changing the bay, but the Cabinet Member for Transport considered the objections and representations received and decided against changing the bay.
8. Councils can only introduce, amend, or remove parking bays through the statutory process and do not have to approve every request for change. The evidence shows the Council considered Mr X's concerns, including access issues, and reached a decision through the appropriate democratic process.
9. Mr X also complained the Council failed to comply with its duties under the Equality Act when considering his request. The Ombudsman cannot decide whether a council has breached the Equality Act, as only the courts can do so. Our role is to consider whether the Council gave due regard to equality issues and followed a proper decision-making process. The Council said it considered its equality duties through its Integrated Impact Assessment process when assessing Mr X's request and did not accept it had failed to meet its duties under the Equality Act.
10. We are not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong, regardless of whether Mr X disagrees with it.
11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint as further investigation is unlikely to find evidence of fault in the Councils actions.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint as further investigation is unlikely to find evidence of fault in the Councils actions.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman