London Borough of Lambeth (25 014 947)
Category : Transport and highways > Parking and other penalties
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 27 Apr 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about fees charged by the Council to install a vehicle crossover. There is not enough evidence of fault to warrant our involvement.
The complaint
- Mr X complained the Council were not clear about the fees he needed to pay for a vehicle crossover until late in the process, after he paid for an engineer to visit his property.
- Mr X also complained the Council communicated poorly with him about the matter and his complaint.
- Mr X said these matters negatively impacted his physical and mental health.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X complained the Council were not clear about fees for a vehicle crossover. He said he had to pay for an engineer to visit his property before it told him the full cost.
- The Council’s policy for a crossover application and installation is publicly available.
- The fee for an initial engineer assessment is set out in the policy. The policy also says the full cost for a vehicle crossover cannot be determined until a full assessment is completed.
- The available evidence suggests the Council followed the approach set out in its policy and therefore, there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant our involvement.
- Mr X also complained the Council took too long to reach its decision and inform him of the total cost. However, it is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about communication delays or complaint procedures, if we will not deal with the substantive issue.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman