Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the positioning of a disabled parking bay. This is because the Council has agreed to move the bay by 1.5m and any remaining injustice Mr X has from not moving it further is not significant enough to warrant investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about a disabled parking bay which is next to his driveway and affects his view when exiting his property. He wants the Council to move the bay further from his drive.

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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, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

4. I understand Mr X’s concerns about the disabled parking bay but there are no parking restrictions on the road. Motorists would therefore be free to park right up to Mr X’s drive if the bay was not there.
5. In response to Mr X’s complaint the Council has agreed to move the disabled parking bay 1.5m away from his drive but Mr X says this is not enough and he wants it to move the bay by 2m. The difference- 50cm- is not significant and does not case Mr X significant enough injustice to warrant the cost of investigating the matter further.

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Final decision

6. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the injustice Mr X claims is not significant enough to warrant further investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman