Summary: Mr B complains about the Council’s failure to change existing parking restrictions to allow him to park outside his home. The Ombudsman will not investigate the complaint because the events complained about happened too long ago to be investigated now and an investigation would be unlikely to lead to the outcome Mr B seeks.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Mr B, says the Council prevents him from parking outside his house in the morning due to restrictions it introduced in 2015. He says he has to park 70 yards further down his road in an area which is less safe for parking than the area directly outside his property.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
3. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. In considering the complaint I reviewed the information provided by Mr B. I gave him the opportunity to comment on my draft decision and considered what he said.

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What I found

5. In 2015 Mr B says he contacted the Council when he noticed that Clearway parking restrictions outside his property had changed so as to operate only in the evening and not in the morning and evening as they previously had. He says he asked that the restrictions preventing both morning and evening parking be extended to an area to cover outside his property so he would not have to park 70 yards away from his home in the morning.
6. Mr B says the officer he spoke to told him the change was only a trial and that he should wait until the change was confirmed before asking for an alteration. Mr B then contacted the Council again in 2016 when he was told he should have made his request before the change had been made permanent. Mr B says at this time he was told by the manager he spoke to that he would see what he could do for Mr B.
7. Mr B waited until 2019 to make a formal complaint to the Council about this matter. The Council addressed his complaint and told him the only change made in 2016 was to the timing of the morning no parking restriction and it disputed that a change had been made to allow parking in the morning. It set out its chronology of events in relation to the introduction of the Clearway parking restrictions and concluded by stating Mr B’s reasons for moving the extent of the restrictions were not those which would warrant making such a change.

Assessment

8. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate. The restriction highlighted at paragraph 2 applies to Mr B’s complaint because he was aware in 2016 of the matters about which he complains. The complaint therefore falls outside our jurisdiction and I see no grounds which warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman now four years on.
9. Moreover, an investigation by the Ombudsman is unlikely to lead to the Council extending the morning parking restriction area to cover outside Mr B’s property.
10. Mr B says the reason why it took him years to make a complaint is that he prevaricated. He says that as he pays a large amount in council tax he deserves the parking extension. He says he thinks many paid public officers could be charged with the criminal offence of obtaining money by deception. However, not only as he provided no evidence to support such a claim, none of his arguments would lead me to change my view that his complaint is not one the Ombudsman will investigate.

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Final decision

11. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because the events complained about happened too long ago to be investigated now and an investigation would be unlikely to lead to the outcome Mr B seeks.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman