Westmorland and Furness Council (26 003 697)
Category : Transport and highways > Parking and other penalties
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 12 Jul 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate X’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to issue a parking permit for their second home. There is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.
The complaint
- X complained the Council refused a residents parking permit for their second home. X said the matter caused them distress and frustration.
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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- We will not investigate this complaint. In its complaint response the Council explained that parking permits are only provided to permanent residents of the area. As X’s property is a second home, they do not qualify.
- In addition, the Council considered its discretion to deviate from the policy but decided it would not do so on this occasion when considering all the factors.
- 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.
- There is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s decision-making to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.
Final decision
- We will not investigate X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman