Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about a penalty charge notice. This is because the complainant can appeal to the tribunal.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains about a penalty charge notice (PCN). He says the Council should cancel it or keep the fine at £35 until he has completed the appeals process.

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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. The Traffic Penalty Tribunal considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for all areas of England outside London.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I read the complaint and the Council’s responses. I invited Mr X to comment on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

Blue badge rules

6. The rules prohibit blue badge holders from parking where a loading or unloading ban is in force.

Penalty Charge Notice

7. A PCN is reduced by 50% if the person pays promptly and does not appeal to the tribunal. The law does not allow people to appeal to the tribunal and then pay the reduced rate if they lose the appeal. If the tribunal cancels the PCN then the person pays nothing.

What happened

8. The Council issued a PCN to Mr X for parking at a location where a loading ban was in force. Mr X was travelling with two disabled people and had displayed a blue badge.
9. Mr X asked the Council for details about the Traffic Regulation Order. The Council treated this as an unsuccessful challenge to the PCN and told him the discounted rate of £35 was payable until 16 December.
10. Mr X complained that the Council had treated his request for information as a challenge. Mr X then explained why he thought the PCN should be cancelled. He said he wanted to appeal to the tribunal if the Council did not cancel the PCN.
11. The Council responded on 2 December and explained again why it would not cancel the PCN. It told him the process to follow if he wanted to appeal to the tribunal.
12. In January the Council issued a Notice to Owner which allowed Mr X to formally challenge the PCN. Mr X explained why he thought the Council should cancel the PCN. He referred to the Council wrongly interpreting his information request and he explained that the signage relating to the parking restriction was unclear. The Council issued a Notice of Rejection on 20 February. The Notice said Mr X had 28 days to appeal to the tribunal if he disagreed with its decision not to cancel the PCN.
13. Mr X is dissatisfied with the way the Council has handled his case. He wants the Council to cancel the fine or keep it at £35 until he has completed the appeals process. He wants a payment to reflect the time he has spent dealing with the PCN.

Assessment

14. I will not start an investigation because Mr X can appeal to the tribunal. The tribunal will consider his submission about why the PCN should be cancelled. The tribunal has the power to cancel the PCN – I do not have that power. In addition, the law does not allow people to appeal to the tribunal and pay at the reduced rate. Mr X has consistently said he wants to appeal to the tribunal so it seems unlikely he would ever have benefitted from the discounted rate. It is reasonable to expect Mr X to appeal because the tribunal is the appropriate body to consider disputes about PCNs.
15. The Council did not respond correctly to Mr X’s initial request for information. However, it subsequently addressed the points he raised, explained the deadline to pay at the discounted rate and the appeals process, and sent Mr X the form to allow him to appeal to the tribunal. The process may not have been as smooth as Mr X may have liked but we do not investigate complaint handling when we are not investigating the main issue. For the same reason I would not ask the Council to pay costs. Mr X could ask the tribunal for costs although they are not usually awarded.

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Final decision

16. I will not start an investigation because Mr X can appeal to the tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman