Summary: We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about parking permits. this complaint which was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council’s failure to process his application for a permit in the Council’s controlled parking zone. He says his application was ignored for 2 years and then the Council’s response to his member of Parliament’s enquiries was incorrect.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. Mr X applied to the Council for a disabled parking permit for the road nearest to his home in 2020. He says he did not receive a response and took the matter up with his local councillor in March 2022. The Council responded and said it would consider his complaint but no complaint response was issued. Mr X took up the matter with his local Member of Parliament in October 2022.
6. The Council replied to the MP’s enquiries in November and said it had issued a reply to Mr X in June 2020 which stated the street next to Mr X’s home was private land and he should take up the matter with the Housing authority who managed it and the car parks nearby.
7. Mr X disputes the status of the land because he received a parking penalty on the street which is signed as being within a controlled parking zone. The street is also listed in the Council’s CPZ map online as within a permit zone. It is unclear if the Council was referring to the housing land outside Mr X’s home which includes car parking or the nearest public highway which is where is received the parking penalty in its replies.
8. We will not investigate this complaint. The time for receiving complaints is from when someone became aware of the matter they wish to complain about, not when they complained to the Council or it issued its final response. We would expect someone to complain to us within a year, even if they were dissatisfied with the time the complaints procedure was taking. Mr X became aware of the lack of a response in 2020, which is outside the 12-month period for receiving complaints.

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Final decision

9. We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about parking permits. this complaint which was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman