Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council continuing to issue parking charge notices despite Mr X having a valid parking permit. This is because the Council has provided a suitable remedy to recognise the injustice caused by the delays.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council continues to issue parking charge notices (PCN) despite him having a valid parking permit. He says he has spent a lot of time challenging the PCN’s, raising complaints and finding alternative parking. Mr X wants the Council to ensure his dropped kerb permit is considered properly, remove the old, controlled parking zone lines and pay him compensation.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council has accepted fault. It said whilst many of the PCN’s had been cancelled, the recurrence of the issue shows previous remedial actions were not affected. It completed a review and said the error was due to a lack of clear system notes regarding Mr X’s permit. It also said the remnant of previous bay markings were misleading.
6. The Council has now removed the previous markings, updated Mr X’s permit record to ensure clear notes are available. The Council has also reminded its team that permit records must be properly annotated where non-standard layouts apply. Within four weeks of this decision the Council has agreed to pay Mr X £200 in remedy the injustice to him.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the Council has provided a suitable remedy which is in line with the Ombudsman’s guidance.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman