The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr C’s complaint about the Council’s refusal of his request for a Clean Air Zone exemption for his vehicle. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.
The complaint
Mr C complains the Council has wrongly not granted a Clean Air Zone exemption for his new work vehicle. Mr C says the previous owner had an exemption for this vehicle and he also had an exemption for his previous vehicle. Mr C says this is unfair and he has to pay the Clean Air Zone charge every day. Mr C would like the Council to transfer the exemption granted to his previous vehicle to his new vehicle.
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 an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr C and information on the Council’s website about the Clean Air Zone.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Some vehicles qualify for an exemption which means they can enter the Council’s Clean Air Zone without paying a charge. The Council’s policy says it will not award an exemption for vehicles bought after 26 September 2022 because this is the cut off point for the exemption scheme. Also, exemptions issued to businesses are not transferable. This means if a business buys a vehicle from another business any exemption previously issued will stop working.
The Council’s decision to refuse Mr C’s request for an exemption was in line with its policy. So, there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation into this complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman