Summary: I have discontinued my investigation into this complaint about a penalty charge notice. This is because Mr X had a right of appeal to the London Tribunals and we are unlikely to find fault in the way the Council acted.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council issued him a penalty charge notice (PCN) when he had purchased a valid ticket. He is unhappy with the way the Council handled his appeal.

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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 provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions a council has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a tribunal. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
5. London Tribunals (previously known as the Parking and Traffic Appeals Service) considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for London.

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How I considered this complaint

6. I read the complaint, including the documents provided by the complainant.
7. I also read documents and correspondence provided by the Council.
8. I have considered the Council’s Penalty Charge Notice procedure.
9. Mr X and the Council both had an opportunity to comment on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

10. If a vehicle parks in breach of parking rules, a penalty charge notice (PCN) may follow.
11. An informal challenge against the PCN can be made within 28 days of its issue. If the challenge is successful there is nothing to pay. The Council will issue a notice to owner (NTO) form if it rejects the appeal and the vehicle owner does not pay the fine.
12. A formal appeal (also called representations) must be made within 28 days of receiving the NTO form. If the Council accepts the formal appeal it will cancel the PCN.
13. If the Council rejects the appeal, the fine remains due, or the owner must appeal to an independent adjudicator. In London, the Environment and Traffic Adjudicators at the London Tribunals consider appeals.
14. The Council can issue a charge certificate, and the cost of the fine will increase, if the owner does not pay the fine or make an appeal.
15. Once the Council issues a charge certificate, there is no further statutory right of appeal. The owner must pay the fine within 21 days or the Council may register the charge at Court. After the Council registers the charge it will send out a copy of the charging order with a Witness Statement or Statutory Declaration form, which the owner can complete to object to the PCN.
16. An owner may only make a Witness Statement or Statutory Declaration for one of the following reasons:
• Notice to Owner form not received
• Representation rejection notice not received
• Traffic Penalty Tribunal appeal response not received
• Penalty Charge Notice paid in full within 28 days
17. If a Witness Statement or Statutory Declaration is made, the Council will consider whether to resend missing documentation or to refer the case to the independent adjudicator.

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What happened

18. The Council issued a PCN to Mr X’s vehicle on 26 January 2019 for not displaying a valid parking ticket. It took photographs of his vehicle to evidence this.
19. Mr X made an informal appeal to the Council on 4 February 2019. He said he bought a valid ticket, but it had blown off his dashboard because of windy conditions.
20. The Council responded on 25 February 2019. It rejected Mr X’s informal appeal because it said even if he had a valid ticket, he must also clearly display it so enforcement officers can see it. It provided photographs of Mr X’s vehicle to show this. It said it would reconsider Mr X’s appeal if he supplied a copy of his parking ticket within fourteen days.
21. Mr X sent a copy of his parking ticket to the Council on 1 March 2019.
22. The Council wrote to Mr X on 21 March 2019 dismissing his appeal. It accepted Mr X had a valid ticket but said he must clearly display the ticket in his vehicle. It said it could not verify Mr X displayed the ticket in his vehicle at the time of the alleged contravention due to the number of expired tickets Mr X left in his vehicle. It said there were inadequate grounds to cancel the PCN and it was correctly issued. The Council told Mr X he had a right to formally appeal the PCN and he must do this when he received the Notice to Owner (NTO) form.
23. The Council said it issued the NTO on 16 April 2019. It said Mr X did not respond or make a formal appeal within the allowed timeframe, so it issued a charge certificate on 23 May 2019.
24. Mr X made representations to the Council in response to the NTO on 29 May 2019. He said the Council had not reconsidered his case as it said it would but instead had sent notices demanding payment.
25. The Council responded to Mr X on 14 June 2019. It explained the procedure and Mr X’s right of appeal. It told Mr X he had 28 days to appeal the NTO but his appeal was too late. It said if Mr X did not pay the PCN within fourteen days of the charge certificate, it would apply to the Court to recover the fee.
26. Mr X brought his complaint to the Ombudsman on 24 June 2019 because he was unhappy with the way the Council handled his appeal.

Analysis

27. I have discontinued my investigation for the following reasons:
• Mr X had a right of appeal to the London Tribunals. They are the correct body to consider the matter and it was reasonable for him to do so. This is a free service and the Council told Mr X he had a formal right of appeal.
• The Council had the right to issue a PCN to Mr X for failing to correctly display his parking ticket. He may think its decision is unfair, but the Council considered his appeal and properly told Mr X he still had a formal right of appeal.
• Mr X sent his formal representations later than the allowed 28 days, by which time the Council had issued a charge certificate. The Council does not have to consider formal representations made after 28 days.
• It is unlikely an investigation would find fault in the way the Council acted.

If Mr X did not receive relevant documents from the Council, he can send a Statutory Declaration or Witness Statement to the Court.

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Draft decision

28. I have discontinued my investigation. This is because Mr X made an informal appeal to the Council and had a formal right of appeal to the London Tribunals. We are unlikely to find fault in the way the Council acted.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman