Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to increase the charge for residents’ parking permits in 2023. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained about the Council’s increase of parking permit charges for 2023. She says the increase is 12% and that this is poor value for money and should be paid for through the Council tax rather than individual car owners.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information the provided by the complainant.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Miss X lives in a controlled parking zone where residents have to pay for permits on an annual basis. The charge for the permits is decided each year as part of the Council’s budget setting which determines charges for services. The Council decided the parking charges following a Cabinet meeting held in November 2022.
6. The Council published a notice informing residents of the new charges in 2023. Miss X says the charge is excessive and hard for pensioners to meet given rises in other costs. She believes the Council should make the permit charges part of the general council tax charge.
7. Parking is a service which is paid for by the users in the same way as users of the planning or leisure services and does not apply to all residents but only those who use the service. The Council has a statutory duty to balance a budget each year and to decide what to charge for services to cover their costs. It is for the Council’s Cabinet members to approve any increases for services.
8. When considering complaints, we may not question whether the decision the Council has made is right or wrong or offer any opinion on whether or not we agree with the judgment of the Councils’ officers or members when there is no fault. This means we will not intervene in disagreements about whether there is fault in a decision.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to increase the charge for residents’ parking permits in 2023. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman