London Borough of Lewisham (25 030 063)
Category : Transport and highways > Parking and other penalties
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 08 Jul 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council failing to properly enforce and communicate with Ms X regarding her not being entitled to apply for a parking permit. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault.
The complaint
- Ms X complains the Council failed to properly enforce and communicate with her regarding her not being entitled to apply for a parking permit, despite her application previously being approved. Ms X said this has impacted her financially and emotionally. Ms X wants the Council to reconsider its decision, provide an alternative solution or consider paying her compensation.
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, or
- any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
(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
- Ms X had held and renewed a parking permit since 2022. In February 2026, after introducing a new system, the Council told her she was no longer eligible. It said its previous system had wrongly recorded some properties as permit-eligible, and Ms X’s property is subject to planning restrictions which prevent occupiers applying for a permit.
- The Council wrongly recorded Ms X’s property as permit-eligible. However, any injustice was limited because Ms X benefited from a permit for several years. Once the Council corrected its records and made the updated policy available on its website, there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify investigation.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman