Summary: Mr Y, on behalf of his son Mr X, complains the Council wrongly told him to pay a penalty charge notice and then appeal. The information provided by the Council shows it followed the correct procedure by first considering informal representations from Mr X. The Council provided Mr X the correct information about his options to either pay or appeal before Mr X chose to pay the penalty charge notice. On the basis of the information seen, there is no evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. Mr Y, on behalf of his son Mr X, complains the Council wrongly told him to pay a PCN and then appeal only to find the appeal rejected as he had paid the fine.
2. Mr X believes the charge is incorrect and the Council should refund the £25 he paid.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. As part of the investigation, I have:
• considered the complaint and the documents provided by the complainant;
• made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided;
• discussed the issues with the complainant’s representative;
• sent my draft decision to both the Council and the complainant and invited their comments.

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What I found

6. Mr X is entitled to a parking permit in the area he lives. He applied for a residents’ permit when he moved to the area in March 2018. He provided information to the Council and an online account was set up. Mr X had access to this account.
7. On 14 March 2019 Mr X parked in a bay that allowed free parking for a specified time or required a residents’ permit. Mr X stayed longer than the specified time and did not have a valid permit on that day, so the Council issued a penalty charge notice (PCN).
8. Mr X wrote to the Council on 23 March to appeal the PCN. He said he had not received an email reminder to renew his permit as the wrong email address had been registered. Mr X felt he should not have to pay the PCN as the failure to renew the permit was as a direct result of him not receiving the email reminder.
9. The Council considered Mr X’s representations as an informal appeal and replied on 15 April. It said it decided not to cancel the PCN. It explained that it sends permit reminders as a courtesy only. It said it was unfortunate he did not receive a reminder but the responsibility to renew a permit lies with the driver. The letter gave Mr X three options:
• Pay the discounted charge of £25 within 14 days;
• Pay £50 within 28 days of the date of the PCN; or
• Formally challenge the PCN by waiting for the Notice to Owner form and then completing that.
10. On 24 April, Mr X paid discounted fee of £25 and the Council closed his case.

Analysis

11. Mr Y believes the Council should cancel the PCN because the Council failed to send Mr X a reminder that his permit required renewal. He says if this had happened, Mr X would have renewed the permit and the PCN would not have been issued.
12. Mr Y says when Mr X telephoned the Council about the PCN he was told to pay the charge and then appeal. The Council does not record calls and there is no note on the file to give any indication of what was said. As there is no recording, I cannot take a view on the advice given to Mr X during that initial call.
13. However, Mr X did make an informal appeal to the Council about the PCN and received the Council’s response before he paid the PCN. Mr X explained his mitigation regarding the failure of the Council to send a reminder. The Council considered this but decided not to cancel the PCN. I am satisfied this was a decision the Council was entitled to take.
14. The Council then explained the three different options open to Mr X. This clearly explained how to appeal. The information in that letter does not say you should pay first and then appeal. Therefore, even if the information in the initial form call was misleading or incorrect, this letter clarified the position and explained the different options.
15. Mr X chose to pay the PCN at the reduced rate after receiving the information about his options from the Council. I therefore cannot conclude there has been any fault by the Council in this case. It is not my role to take a view on whether the PCN was correctly issued. This would be a matter to pursue through the appeal process. As Mr X chose to pay the reduced amount rather than appeal, I find no fault by the Council.

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Final decision

16. I will now complete my investigation as there is no evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman