Summary: We will not investigate Miss B’s complaint about the Council’s refusal of her vehicle crossover application. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. Miss B complains the Council refused her application for a vehicle crossover without assessing the full area available for parking. Miss B also says other identical properties on her road have a dropped kerb which shows there is enough room to park a vehicle. Miss B would like the Council to consider her application again.

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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 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))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Miss B and information on the Council’s website about vehicle crossover applications. I have also viewed Miss B’s property on Google maps and streetview.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council refused Miss B’s application because her property’s off-street parking area does not meet the Council’s minimum size requirements for a car parked at 90 degrees to the footway. The Council has provided photographs and measurements to support its decision.
6. I have not seen any information to suggest Miss B’s property meets the Council’s minimum size requirements even taking into account the full width of the front of the property. So, the Council’s decision was in line with its policy.
7. The Council has also explained that similar properties nearby were allowed a crossover under a previous policy which used different criteria.
8. The Council is not at fault for applying its current policy requirements to Miss B’s application. And, it is not our role to tell the Council it should change its policy to allow a smaller parking area and/or parking parallel with the highway.
9. So, there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation into this complaint.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Miss B’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman