The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: Ms X complains about the Council’s response to neighbours who bump over kerbs to park. We will not investigate the complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council or injustice caused to Ms X to warrant an investigation.
The complaint
The complainant, who I refer to as Ms X, complains she paid for a dropped kerb out the front of her property but that the Council is allowing neighbours to bump over kerbs and park at their properties without having paid the fee she did.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Ms X, including the Council’s response to her complaint.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Ms X complained to the Council that neighbours were bumping over kerbs to park at their properties when she had paid for a dropped kerb for the same privilege, and they had not.
The Council responded to tell her that her comments about kerb bumping and potentially illegally installed dropped kerbs had been referred to its enforcement team.
We do not investigate every complaint we receive. While Ms X says she is upset that neighbours do for free what she had to pay for, there are insufficient grounds to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.
The Council properly referred the matter to its enforcement team and Ms X paid for a dropped kerb and can park at the front of her property without fear of contact from the enforcement team.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council or injustice caused to Ms X to warrant an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman