Ms A complained that Newport City Council did not acknowledge her request for a disabled parking bay and it was delayed in responding to her subsequent letters, including a letter of complaint. Ms A said that contrary to the Council stating that its Highways Department had written to her, she had not received any correspondence from that department.
The Ombudsman found that the Council failed to acknowledge and respond to Ms A’s letters in a timely manner, and it was unable to explain what happened to them over a period of several months. There was evidence that the Highways Department had drafted a letter to Ms A, but it was unclear if it was sent. The Ombudsman found there was a lack of information available on the Council’s website about the disabled parking bay application process. The Council’s failure to respond to Ms A in a timely manner, resulted in the opportunity for her application to be considered, being delayed by 1 year. He decided to settle the complaint without an investigation.
The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement to : within 10 working days, apologise to Ms A, pay her redress of £125 and provide her with a clear explanation of how and when she can submit an application, within 1 month, to publish permanent information on its website about the disabled parking bay application process, and within 2 months, undertake a review of its internal postal system. If Ms A’s future application is successful, the Council agreed that within 1 month of its decision, it would consider further financial redress, to acknowledge the injustice caused and the impact of the delay in the provision of a disabled parking bay.