Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s enforcement of bus lanes. The complainant, and any other motorist receiving a penalty charge notice, could appeal to an independent adjudicator.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to here as Mr B, has complained about how the Council enforces bus lanes generally. He also says he wrongly received a penalty charge notice for driving in a bus lane.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. 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)
4. 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’.
5. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if, for example, we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault;
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained; or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I have considered what Mr B said in his complaint.

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What I found

Background

7. The Council enforces bus lanes using procedures set out in the Bus Lane Contraventions (Penalty Charges, Adjudication and Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2005. The Council and motorists must follow these procedures.
8. There is a right of appeal against any penalty charge notice to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal (TPT) which is a statutory tribunal. An appeal to the TPT is free and relatively easy to use. It is also the way in which Parliament expects people to contest a penalty charge notice. For these reasons, the restriction I describe in paragraph 3 would generally apply.

Analysis

9. Mr B received a penalty charge notice from the Council because it believed he had driven in a bus lane during the hours of operation. If he wished to contest this, he could have appealed to the TPT and an adjudicator would have considered any arguments he put forward. I see no reason he could not have done this and so the restriction I describe in paragraph 3 applies
10. We will not consider a complaint from Mr B about how the Council enforces bus lanes generally as this would not cause him any personal injustice. Further, any motorist who believes the Council has wrongly issued a penalty charge notice can appeal to the TPT.

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Final decision

11. I have decided we will not investigate this complaint for the reasons set out in paragraphs 9 and 10.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman