Summary: We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to implement double yellow lines near his home. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr B complains the Council has refused his request for double yellow lines at a busy road junction close to his home. Mr B says parked cars on both sides of the road in this location make joining the main road very dangerous. Mr B says similar roads nearby have double yellow lines and the Council should agree to his request, which is a simple solution to the current problem.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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))

3. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mr B and have considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
5. I have considered information on the Council’s website about how the Council considers requests for double yellow lines. I have also viewed this location on Google maps and Streetview.

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My assessment

6. The Council as a local highways authority can only implement yellow lines for highway safety reasons. The Council’s policy on changes to the highway is to invest in locations were evidence shows crashes are occurring and where there is an engineering solution that may reduce the number or severity of incidents. The Council says many accidents are caused by driver behaviour which cannot be reduced by engineering measures alone.
7. In response to Mr B’s request, the Council reviewed collision data for this location and officers visited the site. The Council decided there is not an evidenced safety issue in this location which would justify the installation of double yellow lines.
8. I have not seen any information to indicate there was fault in the way the Council reached this decision. This means we cannot question the professional judgement of Council highways officers who have decided double yellow lines in this location are not justified.
9. So, we will not investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman