The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s consultation for a proposed change to a parking zone. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.
The complaint
Mrs X complained about the Council’s consultation for a proposed change to a parking zone where she lives. She says the consultation was inadequate and did not include a questionnaire for residents to express their views and choices.
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 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 we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
How I considered this complaint
I considered the information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mrs X says residents were sent a letter from the Council notifying them of proposals to extend a parking permit zone where she lives. She says the letter did not ask questions about the residents’ preferences and that she was unable to contact anyone to discuss the proposals.
The Council says that the letter was part of statutory consultation for a Traffic order under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984. The regulations require a highway authority to notify residents and give 21 days for them to comment. There is no requirement for a questionnaire or even to individually notify residents. Councils do not normally enter into dialogue with individual residents during the notification process. Any comments received will be considered before a decision is made whether to create a Traffic Order or not.
The decision on the scheme has not yet been made but the time for receiving comments has ended. There is no evidence to suggest that the Council failed to follow the correct procedure for introducing a Traffic Regulation Order.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s consultation for a proposed change to a parking zone. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman