Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to take enforcement action over obstructive parking near his home. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council failing to enforce an H-bar no parking line in front of a dropped kerb near his grandmother’s home. He says parked cars sometimes restrict his access when pushing a wheelchair. He wants the Council to either enforce the marking or to extend yellow line restrictions to this area.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X says the Council has refused to carry out parking enforcement when a dropped kerb near his grandmother’s home has been obstructed by parked cars.
6. The Council told him that the dropped kerb and H-bar marking were not provided for access to her property and there is no dropped kerb in front of her home. The Council will only carry out enforcement when a householder reports obstruction by cars parked in front of the access to their property causing an obstruction, which is enforceable. It has not received any requests from other householders who may be suffering from such obstruction.
7. Mr X says the Council should consider extending the yellow lines nearby to include the dropped kerb if the bar marking cannot be moved. The Council could not carry out any changes to the existing parking and waiting restrictions without introducing a new traffic regulation order.
8. When considering complaints, we may not question the merits of the decision the Council has made or offer any opinion on whether or not we agree with the judgment of the Councils’ officers or members. This means we will not intervene in disagreements about the merits of decisions

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to take enforcement action over obstructive parking near his home. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman