Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council (20 006 952)
Category : Environment and regulation > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 25 Nov 2020
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We do not have the power to investigate this complaint about a Fixed Penalty Notice. This is because the law prevents the Ombudsman from investigating a matter a court has already considered.
The complaint
- Mr Y complains the Council has taken him to court to seek an order to enforce payment of a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) for dropping litter when he has already paid the fine.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered the information Mr Y provided about his complaint, including correspondence about the FPN.
What I found
- The Council issued an FPN to Mr Y in February 2020, fining him £75. He has provided a receipt to show he paid the Council £75 in March. The Council sent Mr Y a reminder letter to pay the fine in the middle of March. This explained that “all payments must be made direct to HM Courts & Tribunals Service. Any payments made to any other party… may result in enforcement action as HM Courts & Tribunals Service will have no record of payment”. The Council then sent a final reminder to Mr Y a week later.
- The Council then took legal action for the fine to be considered by the courts for non-payment. Mr Y wrote to the Council in August 2020, explaining that he had already paid the fine. The court made a collection order against Mr Y for the recovery of the fine, which was now a higher amount, and costs in September.
Analysis
- Mr Y’s had the opportunity to ask the court to consider his payment to the Council before it made the collection order. As the fixed penalty notice and any payment or non-payment of it was considered by the court, we do not have the power to investigate Mr Y’s complaint about the matter.
Final decision
- We do not have the power to investigate this complaint about a Fixed Penalty Notice. This is because the law prevents the Ombudsman from investigating a matter a court has already considered.
Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman