Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council has not refunded a parking charge as agreed as this does not cause the complainant a level of injustice that would justify our further involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council has not refunded a £3 parking charge it had agreed to refund to him. Mr X is unhappy that he has had to spend time trying to resolve this and seeks a monetary payment from the Council in recognition of this.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. I recognise that Mr X is dissatisfied with the Council's handling of this matter and that he has spent time trying to seek a resolution. However, this does not represent a level of injustice that would justify our further involvement nor does the £3 refund that Mr X is awaiting. We have limited resources and must direct them to complaints where serious loss or harm has been suffered. Mr X’s case is not such a complaint.
6. For this reason, we will not investigate.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he is not caused a serious injustice from any Council fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman