Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council (19 008 320)

Category : Transport and highways > Traffic management

Decision : Not upheld

Decision date : 12 Feb 2020

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: Mr D complains the Council failed to take enforcement action regarding obstructive parking. The Ombudsman has not found any evidence of fault. He has completed the investigation and not upheld the complaint.

The complaint

  1. The complainant (whom I refer to as Mr D) says the Council has failed to prevent and take action for obstructive parking by vehicles that block access to his driveway. He feels the Council should have parking restrictions in the area.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
  2. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

  1. I have considered the information provided by Mr D. I asked the Council questions and carefully examined its response.
  2. I shared my draft decision with both parties.

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What I found

What happened

  1. On 7 December 2018 Mr D contacted his Councillor to report obstructive parking outside his home. A Civil Enforcement Officer (Enforcement Officer) attended within 25 minutes and found no vehicles parked near Mr D’s home.
  2. On 23 March 2019 Mr D told the Council a vehicle was again blocking access to his driveway. An Enforcement Officer visited within an hour. He found a car parked opposite Mr D’s property. He took photographs showing the car was legally parked. He considered it was not causing an obstruction and no further action was taken.
  3. Mr D subsequently complained to the Council in March. The Council replied in May explaining it had found no evidence of vehicles obstructing Mr D’s driveway. Mr D escalated his complaint and the Council issued a further response. It provided a detailed explanation of the legislative background and enforcement process. It told Mr D that no parking offence had been witnessed.

What should have happened

  1. The Council’s Enforcement Officers can take enforcement action if they witness parking contraventions such as a vehicle parked in an obstructive or dangerous manner which is impeding pedestrians and other road users.
  2. When the Council receives a report about a parking obstruction an Enforcement Officer will visit the site and assess if the vehicle is impeding pedestrians and other vehicles. They will also see if a vehicle is preventing a resident from entering their driveway. If a car is found to be legally parked the Council will not take any further action.
  3. The Council can consider parking restrictions for an area. However there needs to be evidence of a severe issue that is affecting pedestrians or road safety. Cases where there are a small number of incident reports would not be referred for consideration.

Was there fault by the Council

  1. Mr D says the Council has failed to take action. The evidence shows me the Council did correctly respond to both incidents he reported and that it acted in line with procedures. There have been two reports from Mr D and the Council visited the site both times. Enforcement Officers did not witness an illegally parked vehicle or one that was considered to be an obstruction. In addition, there is no requirement on the Council to impose parking restrictions in an area where there are a low number of incident reports and no evidence of a significant risk to pedestrians or road users. I appreciate Mr D disagrees with the Council’s decisions. However, the Ombudsman will not question the merits of those decisions because there is no evidence of fault in how they were reached

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Final decision

  1. I have completed the investigation and not upheld the complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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