Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about parking provision because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

The complaint

1. Mr Y complained the Council has refused to provide additional parking on his road, which he says is regularly blocked by vehicles which have parked illegally and dangerously due to a lack of parking being available. Mr Y is also unhappy with the Council’s response and handling of his complaint.
2. Mr Y says he is concerned the lack of suitable parking will lead to emergency vehicles being unable to enter his road. He also says he is concerned about the safety of residents and feels the issue needs to be resolved.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
4. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information Mr Y and the Council provided and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr y complained to the Council about the parking on his road, saying that there were insufficient places for residents to park their vehicles on the road and this was leading to dangerous and illegal parking. Mr Y said he was concerned about road safety for both pedestrians and vehicles but also that emergency services would be unable to drive up the road if needed.
7. The Council responded, explaining it had no plans to introduce further parking bays, but referred Mr Y to his local police force, where he would be able to report illegal parking if he wanted. It also agreed to drop leaflets to local residents to remind them that parking needed to be considerate and explaining how residents could make referrals to the police if necessary. Mr Y was dissatisfied with this response and so came to us.
8. The Council is not under a duty to provide parking and there is no right to park a vehicle. As it is not under any duty to provide parking, its response would be unlikely to be fault. While Mr Y may feel strongly about the issue, there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigation.
9. Further, the Council has suggested how problem parking could be tackled, in particular illegal parking which may be causing a hazard on the road. It has agreed to take action in response to Mr Y’s concerns through the leaflet drop and has therefore shown consideration for the issues raised and what action it is able to take to resolve the problem. It has sought to help Mr Y by not only referring him to a service who may be able to help, in this case the local police, but also sought to inform other residents of how they can do this too. Consequently, there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigation. We will not investigate.
10. Mr Y has also complained about the response and the handling of his complaint. As we are not investigating the substantive issue, it is not a good use of public resources to consider how the Council dealt with the complaint. We will not investigate.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr Y’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman