Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (22 012 227)
Category : Transport and highways > Traffic management
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 09 Jan 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s process for introducing traffic management measures affecting her road. This is because the committee responsible for deciding the future of the measures has already decided to remove them and investigation would not therefore achieve any worthwhile outcome for Mrs X.
The complaint
- The complainant, Mrs X, complains about the process used by the Council to introduce an experimental traffic regulation order (TRO) affecting her road. She believes the decision amounted to an abuse of power and says it has resulted in a 60% increase in vehicle movements. This causes increased noise and air pollution and poses a safety risk to pedestrians and cyclists.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The experimental TRO has been in place for more than 12 months and the neighbourhood committee responsible for deciding its future has resolved to remove it. This will address the concerns Mrs X has about the scheme and there is nothing more we could achieve for her.
- While Mrs X believes staff who do not follow the Council’s rules should be removed we have no power to recommend personnel changes.
Final decision
- We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the Council has decided to remove the experimental traffic management order and we could not achieve anything more for Mrs X by investigating further.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman