Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about how the Council handled his application for a parking permit. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an investigation by us.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council refused to issue him with a residents’ parking permit, despite allowing him to have one in previous years. He said this caused him frustration and he now wants the Council to issue him with a permit.
2. Mr X also complained about how the Council handled his complaint.

Back to top

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, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
6. I considered the Council’s Residents’ Parking Permit webpage.

Back to top

My assessment

7. In June 2024, the Council sent a letter to Mr X, which told him how to renew his residents’ parking permit. The letter explained which documents he needed to provide with his application.
8. Mr X complained. He said in previous years of applying for a permit, he did not need to submit the requested documents.
9. The Council responded to Mr X and accepted it had approved his previous applications in error. It told him it would now only approve his future applications if he could supply the correct documents, in line with its permit scheme.
10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. It is unlikely we would find fault by the Council in ensuring the permit renewal process is applied consistently to all applicants.
11. The Council accepted it had approved Mr X’s previous applications in error. However, the errors in relation to previous applications went in his favour and so he did not experience any injustice from this.
12. Additionally, we will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about how the Council handled his complaint. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaint handling when we are not considering the substantive issue.

Back to top

Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an investigation by us.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman