I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 regarding parking complaints received by Devon County Council. Please could you provide the following details:
1. The total number of complaints related to bad/incorrect parking received by the council in the last 12 months (from 12 February 2024 to 12 February 2025).
6360.
2. If available, a breakdown of parking complaints by type, including (but not limited to):
a. Parking across multiple bays
b. Parking outside of parking bay lines and markings or overhanging a space
c. Parking too close to or too far away from another vehicle
d. Blocking driveways or other parking spaces, preventing vehicle movement
e. Blocking pavements
Compliance with this request would exceed the appropriate cost limit under Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 which is £450 or 18 hours of officer time. Complaints are not categorised in this way and we would have to review every complaint to see if the options above were applicable. At 2 minutes for each review and 6360 complaints to check, this would take 212 hours which is over the 18 hours of officer time.
Under the Act, there is a duty to provide advice and assistance as to how a request can be refined to fit within the appropriate limit. Unfortunately, due to the way the data is held, this is not possible for this request.