Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council refusing his application for parking restrictions. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. Mr X is unhappy with the Council’s handling of his complaint regarding vehicles parking opposite his driveway, which regularly restricts access. Mr X wants to be able to access and park on his driveway without obstruction.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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))

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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. Mr X applied to the Council for parking restrictions on his street due to being unable to consistently and safely park on his private driveway.
6. The Council considered Mr X’s application for parking restrictions under the Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) framework and clearly explained the process it must follow.
7. Mr X complained to the Council after his application was unsuccessful, stating he felt it had not been properly assessed.
8. In its response the Council’s explained to Mr X that Parish Council support is sought at the initial screening stage to provide local context and to gauge community support. This helps it decide whether an application should progress and is a requirement applied consistently to all similar requests. It said this staged approach ensures proportionate use of limited resources, local support for proposals before incurring further costs and priority is given to requests likely to progress.
9. Mr X was unhappy the Council had not visited to complete a safety assessment and take measurements. The Council confirmed this only takes place once an application progresses beyond the initial screening.
10. We will not investigate this complaint. The Council have explained their process for assessing Traffic Regulation Orders (TRO) and provided Mr X with advice on how he can apply again if he wishes to. While I recognise the inconvenience to Mr X not being able to consistently gain access to his driveway, there is not enough fault in the way the Council considered his application for parking restrictions.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there in insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman