Sunderland City Council (23 002 339)
Category : Transport and highways > Parking and other penalties
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 31 May 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council has dealt with parking arrangements on the complainant’s street. This is because we could not add to the investigation carried out by the Council.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I will call Mr X, complains about how the Council implemented a controlled parking scheme on his street. He says that three properties on the street have unofficial crossings installed and the areas outside these properties are exempt. Mr X says these areas could be used by non-residents to park for free and that the areas should either be marked as parking bays or have dropped kerbs installed.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The Council implemented a controlled parking scheme on Mr X’s road, meaning residents have to pay for a permit to park on the road. The parking spaces are marked out on the road, but do not include areas where there are unofficial or official crossings.
- I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because we could not add to the investigation carried out by the Council. In responding to Mr X’s concerns about the unofficial crossings the Council has said that it has referred the matter to highways who will investigate the matter.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we could not add to the Council’s investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman