Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council (26 011 250)
Category : Transport and highways > Parking and other penalties
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 26 Jul 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about parking charges. Mrs X’s claimed injustice is not significant enough to warrant our involvement.
The complaint
- Mrs X complained about added charges incurred by motorists when paying for parking via a third-party mobile app.
- Mrs X said this led to her being overcharged.
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 any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (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
- Mrs X complained a third-party app applies a 20p charge when paying to park in Council car parks.
- Mrs X said the Council does not clearly display the fees and are not transparent about them.
- In its complaint response the Council explained where the fees are set out.
- Our role is to consider complaints where the person bringing the complaint has suffered significant personal injustice as a direct result of the actions or inactions of the organisation. This means we will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures. We will not normally investigate a complaint where the alleged loss or injustice is not a serious or significant matter.
- I have not seen any evidence to suggest Mrs X has suffered an injustice which would meet the threshold for our involvement. The fees complained about are modest and motorists are not inclined to use the third-party app to pay for parking. For this reason, we will not investigate this complaint.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is no evidence of a significant injustice meeting the threshold for our involvement.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman