Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about a Fixed Penalty Notice because Mr Y has already been to court about the matter, and we cannot investigate when happened in court.

The complaint

1. Mr Y complained the Council wrongly issued a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) for cycling in a pedestrian zone due to poor signage for the zone. Mr Y says the signage is not compliant with the Department of Transport standards, although he says the Council has now increased the sign size. He also complained the Council misled the court in his appeal of the FPN.
2. Mr Y says he felt harassed by the Council, he had to attend court twice and has taken time dealing with the matter.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The courts have said that where someone has sought a remedy by way of proceedings in any court of law, we cannot investigate. This is the case even if the appeal did not or could not provide a complete remedy for all the injustice claimed. (R v The Commissioner for Local Administration ex parte PH (1999) EHCA Civ 916)
4. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information Mr Y provided and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. This complaint has already been considered as part of the proceedings Mr Y took part in relating to the FPN. The court, in considering the FPN and its validity, will have considered Mr Y’s complaint about the signage being inadequate. As the courts have considered the issue raised, we cannot by law investigate this matter. We also cannot decide whether the Council committed fraud, as Mr Y suggests, by pursuing the FPN.
7. It is also not for us to determine whether the court has been misled. This can only be determined by the courts. We cannot investigate what happened in court. Consequently, we cannot investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

8. We cannot investigate Mr Y’s complaint because Mr Y has already been to court about the matter, and we cannot investigate when happened in court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman