The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about street sign placement. We are unlikely to fault with the Council’s decision on the placement.
The complaint
Mr X complains to us the Council did not follow through on a commitment as to where it would move a street sign that needed to be placed elsewhere. Mr X said this means illegal parking by motor vehicles will not be prevented, in the way it could have done, had the Council chosen the optimal location.
Mr X says the illegal parking is damaging to his business, and the Council’s lack of communication has caused him stress. Mr X wants the Council to contact him so they can come to an agreed solution.
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 cannot achieve the outcome someone seeks. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X contacted the Council because he wanted it to move a street sign that was in a parking bay he owns. Mr X identified a new position for the street sign which he felt would also curb illegal parking in the area.
The Council moved the street sign but not to the place Mr X identified. Mr X was unhappy with this decision and complained to the Council. The Council explained its reasons for its chosen placement, a decision it came to after consulting other authorities. It also explained why it could not locate it to where Mr X wanted. We are unlikely to find fault with the Council for this decision and so will not investigate this complaint. In any case we could not direct the Council to move it to a different location.
The Council has apologised to Mr X for the delays in communication it had with him during the complaints process. However, we will not investigate this aspect of the complaint. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we decide not to investigate the substantive issue.
Final Decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we are unlikely to find fault with the Council on the substantive matter, and it is not proportionate for us to investigate the complaints handling only.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman