Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s City Centre Residents Parking Scheme. This is because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Mr X, complains that the terms of his residents parking permit mean that during weekday working hours he has to park his car outside the zone he lives in and away from his home. He says the Council should change its policy to allow him to park by his property all the time.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’ which we call ‘fault’. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
3. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council, including its responses to his complaint.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. The terms of Mr X’s city centre residents parking permit means he cannot park outside his home during working hours on weekdays and must move it to a zone further away.
7. Unhappy with the terms and conditions of his permit, and concerned about what would happen if he caught COVID and had to isolate, Mr X complained to the Council and asked that it change its scheme to better suit residents like him.
8. The Council addressed his concerns, explaining the rationale behind its parking permit scheme and noting that it was up to Mr X to decide what permit to purchase. It confirmed it would not be changing the terms and conditions of its scheme regardless of any Covid regulations and guidance in place. Having addressed Mr X’s concerns about this matter on a number of occasions, it also warned him that if he continued to raise the same concerns, it would consider applying its Unreasonable Persistent Complainants policy to him.
9. While I understand Mr X would like to be able to park outside his property all day every day, this is not permissible under the permit he has. He would like the Council to change its policy to better suit him, but it is for the Council to decide its policy and it is not our role to review the merits of it.
10. The Council has addressed Mr X’s queries and advised him of his options under its current policy. I have seen no evidence to suggest there has been fault by the Council in its handling of this matter and we will not investigate the complaint.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman