Summary: The Council failed to respond to Miss X’s challenge against a Parking Charge Notice and delayed responding to her complaint. The Council has apologised to Miss X and refunded her the £35 charge she paid. This is a suitable way to remedy this complaint.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council failed to respond to her appeal against a Parking Charge Notice (PCN). Miss X says she paid the fine of £35 to avoid cost escalating and complained to the Council but the Council did not respond to her complaints.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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

4. I have spoken to Miss X about her complaint. I have also considered the Council’s response to her complaint.
5. I have written to Miss X and the Council with my draft decision and given them an opportunity to comment.

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What I found

6. Miss X received a PCN. She e-mailed the Council to challenge the PCN on 27 January 2019. However, she did not receive any acknowledgement and paid a £35 charge to prevent costs from escalating.
7. Miss X made two further challenges to the charge in March but did not receive any response from the Council. The Council says it did respond to Miss X on 18 March 2018 to apologise for the delay to and to ask that she provide details of her appeal.
8. Miss X complained to the Council on 21 May 2019. The Council says it contacted Miss X on 17 July 2019 to discuss her complaint.
9. The Council wrote to Miss X on 9 September 2019 to apologise for delays in dealing with her complaint. The Council also said it did not respond to Miss X’s challenges against the PCN. The Council has agreed to refund Miss X £35 charge she paid.
10. The Council’s apology along with the payment of £35 to refund the charge Miss X paid to prevent costs from escalating is a suitable remedy for the complaint.
11. I note that the Council has accepted there were delays in responding to Miss X’s complaints and it is taking action to ensure complainants are advised of possible delays in future.
12. There is some inconsistency between the Council’s response to Miss X’s complaint and its response to my draft decision. In its response to Miss X’s complaint the Council said it did not respond to her in March 2019. In its comments on my draft decision it said that it did respond to her. However the Council has already accepted fault and provided a suitable remedy.

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Final decision

13. I have completed my investigation. This is because I have found fault causing injustice and the action the Council has already agreed to take is a suitable way to remedy this.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman