Westmorland and Furness Council (25 031 443)
Category : Transport and highways > Parking and other penalties
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 28 Apr 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council refusing to issue Mr B’s business with more than one parking permit. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.
The complaint
- Mr B complains the Council will only provide his business with one parking permit for on street parking. Mr B says unrestricted parking is extremely limited in this area and it is not realistic to expect his staff to travel to work by public transport. Mr B says it is difficult for his staff to travel to work due to the parking situation and he may have to close his business. Mr B would like the Council to provide additional parking permits for his small business.
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 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 Mr B and have viewed the area on Google maps and Streetview.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The Council has explained the parking permit scheme is oversubscribed in this location and its current policy is to issue one parking permit per business.
- It is for the Council to decide how to manage demand for street parking on the highway network. It is not our role to tell the Council it should manage this permit system differently, for example by providing more parking permits to businesses.
- The Council has acted in line with its policy by issuing Mr B’s business with one parking permit and a book of visitor permits.
- So, there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.
- The Council has also explained to Mr B that a statutory consultation is currently underway for this location and Mr B may engage in this process.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman