Summary: We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint that the Council is failing to enforce the parking restrictions on his road. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr B complains the Council is failing to enforce the parking restrictions on his road. Mr B says the Council is not following its own procedures or doing the patrols it promised. Mr B says this means he frequently cannot park his car near his home. Mr B says the Council should provide consistent enforcement during all restricted hours. Specifically, Mr B would like the Council to ensure traffic wardens patrol the area after 9pm and throughout the weekend in line with the Council’s commitment to do this.

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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 an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (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 B and have viewed this location online.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council has explained that this location is well known to the Council’s parking team and it is consistently in the Council’s top 10 most patrolled sites every month. Council statistics show that between January and August 2026 Council officers patrolled this road on average 173 times a month.
6. The Council says the area is already subject to an enhanced level of patrol activity and is operating at the limit of the Council’s current enforcement capacity. The Council says additional ad hoc patrols have proven to be effective and it has allowed extra patrols and extended officers’ shift times to increase patrols to cover evening and overnight parking.
7. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation into this complaint. The information indicates the Council is aware of the parking problem on this road and is taking action to try to enforce the restrictions in place. This includes ad hoc patrols and more patrols to cover evening and overnight parking.
8. Local authorities have limited resources and the information indicates this road is one of the Council’s most patrolled roads. Overall, there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation into this complaint.
9. And, the Council is in the best position to make operational decisions about how it should manage its limited resources to tackle unauthorised parking in this location and across the Council’s area. An investigation is unlikely to result in the Ombudsman telling the Council it should be doing this differently.
10. So, we will not investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman