Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s response to his reports of cars illegally parked every day on certain roads near his home. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council here to warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council’s response to his reports about cars constantly parking illegally on local roads which is dangerous as they are busy roads.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. It is our decision whether to start an investigation into something the law allows us to investigate. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)
3. We investigate 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 an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Mr X complained to the Council that it was not responding to his reports of cars parking illegally on certain local roads on a daily basis.
7. The Council confirmed it had responded to the parking enforcement requests it had received from Mr X and it set out the outcome of each report. It explained it does not send updates to residents in response to reports via its portal but that residents can request an update by completing the relevant form on its website.
8. It said its Civil Enforcement Officers have carried out over 600 visits to the roads Mr X complained about over the past six months and over 85 penalty charge notices have been issued. Most of these were issued for parking on single or double yellow lines or for parking on the footway.
9. It acknowledged the enforcement challenges in the area as some local business employees park in contravention at these locations but move their vehicle as soon as they spot enforcement officers, only to return later on. It said this can limit the effectiveness of the Council’s main deterrent powers. To address this, it carries out visits at different times of day so that there is no defined pattern for visits. It said it would continue to regularly visit these roads and in response to the issues Mr X raised in his complaint it has added an additional daily patrol of the area to the schedule.
10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council here to warrant an investigation. The Council has shown it has acted on Mr X’s reports and where appropriate it issues penalty charge notices to drivers parking in contravention. It regularly patrols the area and is taking suitable action to address the issue in taking the actions set out in its responses to Mr X’s complaint.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an investigation

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman