Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to withdraw the complainant’s parking permit. This is because the Council has agreed to extend the permit for six months.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Ms X, complains the Council withdrew her parking permit with no notice. She says the Council should have given at least six months notice and accepted it had set a precedence by issuing previous permits. Ms X wants to keep the permit.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence and an update from the Council. I also considered our Assessment Code.

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My assessment

4. Ms X had a parking permit for about four years. Last year a neighbour told her the Council was withdrawing the permits.
5. Ms X contacted the Council. The Council explained it had issued the permit in error and it was correcting that error by not renewing them. It explained her property was developed after the parking permit scheme was implemented and only those properties included when the scheme came into effect, can have a permit.
6. Ms X says the loss of the permit will cause significant problems and has affected her health.
7. The Council issued the permit in error and it is not wrong for it to correct that error by withdrawing it. However, the Council did not give Ms X much notice of the withdrawal of the permits and there seems to have been little direct contact.
8. I asked the Council if it would extend the permit by six months to give time for Ms X to make alternative arrangements. The Council agreed.
9. I will not investigate this complaint because the Council has provided a satisfactory response by agreeing to extend the permit until the end of July. Hopefully this will give time for Ms X to explore other options. There are no grounds to ask the Council to give Ms X a long-term permit because her property is not one that is eligible for permits.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate this complaint because the Council has offered a satisfactory remedy.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman