Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about traffic problems near to a school as the Council has committed to carrying out a traffic consultation and it is unlikely we could add to this or achieve any meaningful outcome.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about congestion and air pollution problems due to the lack of parking provision in his road which runs adjacent to a school. Mr X complains about the Council’s planning decision in 2005 to allow the developer to install private, shared driveways as he says it was inevitable these would be used by parents collecting children.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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 insufficient evidence of Council fault causing an injustice to the complainant or it is unlikely we can add to what the Council has said or there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. We will not investigate the Council’s planning decision of 2005 as no worthwhile outcome could be achieved now by doing so. In addition, Mr X had the choice not to purchase his property, considering his issue with the status of the driveways, and so any injustice he now claims cannot be said to directly arise from the Council fault he alleges.
7. In its complaint responses to Mr X, the Council confirmed it is due to carry out a consultation exercise with a view to implementing waiting restrictions in the area. I recognise Mr X wants immediate action, but it is unlikely we would find fault by the Council in taking this step or that we could achieve any better outcome for Mr X.
8. The specific issue of individual motorists parking on private land is essentially a civil matter between the landowner and that motorist.
9. For these reasons, we will not investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is unlikely we can add to what the Council has said or achieve any worthwhile outcome, above what the Council has already committed to doing.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman