Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to issue him with a parking permit. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council refused to issue him with a parking permit and failed to exercise its discretion when considering his request.
2. Mr X said the Council’s decision denied him access to parking close to his home.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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 not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
4. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

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

Back to top

My assessment

7. When planning permission was granted for the development Mr X lives in, the planning team included a condition which said the Council could not issue parking permits for the residents.
8. Mr X asked the Council to consider his request for a parking permit and said it should consider his individual circumstances.
9. In its complaint response, the Council said it was acting in line with the planning decision notice. It also said Mr X had not highlighted any exceptional circumstances to suggest it should exercise its discretion.
10. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong.
11. The available evidence suggests the Council acted in line with conditions set out in the planning decision notice. Therefore, we would be unlikely to find fault in its decision-making and so we will not investigate.

Back to top

Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman