Southend-on-Sea City Council (23 019 147)
Category : Transport and highways > Parking and other penalties
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 08 Mar 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a parking penalty charge notice as Mr X can ask the court to consider his case.
The complaint
- Mr X complained the Council was wrong to issue him with a parking penalty charge notice (PCN) as he says he had displayed a valid permit to park. Mr X says this has caused him stress and he wants the PCN to be cancelled.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X says he did not receive a notice to owner (NtO) about the PCN and so was unable to formally appeal. Mr X is unhappy the Council has told him he still can challenge the PCN but must wait until it issues the order for recovery (OfR) by which time the cost of the PCN will have risen.
- Parliament has provided a challenge mechanism if something goes wrong in the PCN enforcement process. Once an OfR is issued to Mr X it will be open to him to ask the Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC), which is part of the county court system, to consider his case.
- This is the correct process by which Mr X can challenge the PCN at this stage. We are not another level of appeal, nor can we cancel the PCN. It is reasonable therefore to expect Mr X to follow this process should he wish to challenge the PCN.
- I recognise Mr X is concerned about the rising cost of the PCN but ultimately, he must choose whether to pay the fine or continue to challenge it. We can do nothing about this.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he can ask the court to consider his case.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman