Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about vehicles obstructing her dropped kerb. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council to justify investigating and investigation by the Ombudsman would not lead to a more meaningful outcome.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council failed to take effective action to prevent repeated obstructions of her dropped kerb during school drop off and pick up times. She said this has caused stress and safety concerns as her child’s Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) transport could not stop outside her home.
2. Mrs X wanted the Council to reconsider enforcement action to address her concerns and provide an appropriate solution.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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 or continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

(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. Mrs X complained to the Council that vehicles were repeatedly obstructing her dropped kerb during school drop off and pick up times. She said this was causing issues with her child’s SEND transport as it could not stop outside their home. As a result, they had to walk a significant distance, which raised the risk of her child running into the road due to sensory triggers and lack of impulse control.
7. The Council considered Mrs X’s concerns and arranged appropriate actions within its power to mitigate the impact, including:

• installation of a H-Bar road marking across the dropped kerb;
• in-person attendance at Mrs X’s home at the school drop-off and pick-up times to meet with Mrs X and assess the impact;
• provision of traffic cones for Mrs X to place on the dropped kerb and a review of effectiveness to be carried out after one month; and
• increased frequency of sustained parking enforcement outside Mrs X’s home.

8. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint as there is not enough evidence of fault in the way the Council addressed her concerns. It is also unlikely that an investigation by the Ombudsman would achieve any further meaningful outcome.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council and investigation by the Ombudsman would be unlikely to achieve any further meaningful outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman