Leicester City Council (21 008 704)
Category : Transport and highways > Traffic management
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 26 Oct 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Council civil enforcement officers acting in a discriminatory way. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. It is unlikely we would find fault by the Council has caused the complainant injustice that would justify our involvement.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I refer to here as Mr B, complained the Council’s civil enforcement officers enforce parking restrictions in a discriminatory way. In particular, he says he was told to move his vehicle by an officer who did not tell drivers of other vehicles to do the same.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’.
- We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if, for example, we believe:
- it is unlikely we would find fault;
- any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained; or
- any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr B and the Council. I also considered our Assessment Code.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because we are unlikely to find fault by the Council caused him injustice that warrants our involvement. There is no expectation that civil enforcement officers can enforce every parking restriction equally at all times. In Mr B’s particular case, the officer simply advised him to move his vehicle rather than issue a penalty charge notice.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman