Summary: Mr X complained the Council failed to investigate or respond to his complaints about parking and traffic issues. Mr X said he is getting fined because he cannot park outside his home. We do not find the Council at fault.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council failed to investigate or respond to his complaints about parking and traffic issues. Mr X said he is getting fined because he cannot park outside his home. He said this is having a financial impact.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. 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)
3. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the information and documents provided by Mr X and the Council. I considered the relevant Council policy, set out below. I spoke to Mr X about his complaint. Mr X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on an earlier draft of this statement. I considered all comments received before I reached a final decision.

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What I found

What should have happened

5. The Council’s complaints procedure says it will usually ask the relevant service or department to consider a complaint at first, to try and resolve the issue quickly.
6. The procedure says if the Council feels it can solve the issue more quickly by passing a request to a service, it will log the complaint as a “service request”.
7. The procedure says in this case, the service will take appropriate action to resolve the issue. It says the complainant “may not receive an update and will not receive a formal complaint response”.

What happened

Complaint 1

8. In March 2023, Mr X complained that a Council officer talked aggressively to him on the phone during a conversation about a parking ticket.
9. The Council’s complaint response accepted Mr X’s account of what happened and apologised. It advised Mr X how to resolve his original query about the parking ticket.

Complaint 2

10. In May, Mr X complained that a specific Council officer (Officer O) had not returned his calls, despite leaving messages. Mr X said he wanted Officer O to contact him.
11. The Council’s complaint response said Officer O emailed Mr X addressing his concerns. It said it would ask Officer O to call Mr X.

Complaint 3

12. In July, Mr X complained that Officer O had not contacted him. He said he wanted Officer O to contact him.
13. The Council dealt with this as a service request. An officer called Mr X in August.

Complaints 4 and 5

14. In March 2024, Mr X complained twice on the same day. He complained about congestion from roadworks throughout the area. He also complained about decreasing parking spaces and the increased price of parking permits.
15. The Council responded to both of Mr X’s complaints on the same day he complained. It said it decided his complaints were service requests. The Council said it had passed Mr X’s enquiries to the relevant service who would take the necessary action. It said Mr X might not receive a notification that his request had been dealt with.

Complaint 6

16. A week later, Mr X complained. He asked for responses to his previous complaints (complaints 4 and 5).
17. The Council replied to Mr X. It said where it feels it can solve an issue more quickly, it will pass a request to a service to deal with. It said this is called a service request. The Council said the service would take appropriate action to resolve the issue. It said Mr X may not get an update and would not receive formal complaint responses. It said it had sent him two emails about each of his complaint forms explaining this. The Council rejected complaint 6.
18. In May, the Council emailed Mr X. It said it wanted to arrange a time to call or meet with Mr X to explain its processes around roadworks.

Analysis

19. Mr X complained the Council failed to investigate or respond to his complaints about parking and traffic issues.
20. Regarding complaint 1, the Council dealt with this in line with its complaints procedure. I therefore find no fault with how the Council handled this complaint.
21. Regarding complaint 2, the Council told Mr X it would ask Officer O to call him. The Council said it has no record of a call from Officer O to Mr X. The Council said because Mr X was not calling about a specific parking ticket or permit, there was no reference number and therefore no record of a specific call to Mr X.
22. Regarding complaint 3, the Council said it would pass on Mr X’s request for a call from Officer O. I have seen evidence of a 27-minute call to Mr X’s phone number in early August. On balance, I am persuaded the Council called Mr X back as it promised regarding complaints 2 and 3. I cannot say whether it was actually Officer O that called Mr X, but I do not find this particularly relevant. The point is that the Council contacted him as requested.
23. For this reason, I find no fault in how the Council handled complaints 2 and 3.
24. Regarding complaints 4 and 5, the Council responded to Mr X on the same day he complained. The Council explained that these would be dealt with as service requests. The Council was entitled to do this. I therefore find no fault with how the Council handled complaints 4 and 5.
25. Regarding complaint 6, Mr X asked for complaint responses to complaints 4 and 5. The Council responded, saying it had decided these were service requests and that Mr X might not get responses to these.
26. I find the Council dealt with complaint 6 in line with its complaints procedure. I therefore find no fault in how the Council dealt with this complaint.
27. I do not agree with Mr X that the Council failed to investigate or respond to his complaints about parking and traffic issues. I find the Council handled Mr X’s complaints appropriately and in line with its complaints procedure. The Council was entitled to determine that some of Mr X’s complaints were service requests. I find no fault in the Council’s decisions.

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Final decision

28. I have completed my investigation and I do not uphold Mr X’s complaint. This is because there is no fault.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman