Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about obtaining information about parking permits. This is because Ms X has not suffered significant injustice. The Council has not had the opportunity to reply to the remaining issues complained about.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains she could not get an answer from the Council about how to obtain visitor parking permits at her home.
2. Ms X says she cannot navigate the Council website due to additional needs. When she tried to make telephone enquiries, she had to wait on hold for over two hours and failed to get a response.
3. Ms X says the Council handled her complaint as a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) complaint and has not told her how to get a visitor permit.
4. Ms X says she cannot use visitor parking at her home. She says she experienced stress and anxiety. She says she has lost faith in the Council’s system and feels excluded from accessing services.
5. She would like the Council to talk her through how to arrange parking and give her clear direction on how to navigate future enquiries. She would also like the Council to review the accessibility of its enquiry service for all residents.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

6. 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 injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

7. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the organisation knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to notify the organisation of the complaint and give it an opportunity to investigate and reply. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5), section 34(B)6)

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How I considered this complaint

8. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
9. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

10. Ms X’s complaint to the Council focussed on the incident which led to a PCN. The Council’s response therefore focussed on the PCN. The Council was right to signpost to the appeal process and the PCN was cancelled and fees refunded.
11. Ms X says she spent over two hours on the phone trying to get assistance from the Council. This injustice caused by having to wait on hold is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
12. Ms X says she has been unable to establish how to obtain parking permits at her home. Ms X also says she has had difficulty navigating the Council’s website due to her additional needs and would like the Council to make reasonable adjustments. I do not consider the Council has had the opportunity to reply to this aspect of Ms X’s complaint. Ms X should complain to the Council in the first instance but can return to the Ombudsman if she is unhappy once she has received its response.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman