Summary: The Ombudsman cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s issue of penalty charge notices for driving through a bus gate. This is because Mr X’s injustice lies in the penalty charge notices issued by the Council and Mr X has appealed against them.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council has wrongly issued penalty charge notices (PCNs) for driving through a bus gate despite successful appeals to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal. He says this is a waste of public funds and that he has been put to time, trouble and stress to challenge the PCNs.

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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 Traffic Penalty Tribunal considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for all areas of England outside London.
4. We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
5. We cannot investigate something that affects all or most of the people in a council’s area. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(7), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I reviewed Mr X’s complaint and the Council’s response.

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What I found

7. The Council issued Mr X a PCN for driving through a bus gate in 2019.
8. There is a set procedure councils must follow when pursuing PCNs for moving traffic contraventions. When a council identifies a contravention it will issue a PCN to the owner/registered keeper by post. This will detail the amount of the fine and the motorist’s right of appeal, firstly to the council itself and then to a Tribunal.
9. Mr X received the PCN and appealed against it to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal. The Tribunal upheld Mr X’s appeal and cancelled the PCN and Mr X believes this means it cannot issue further PCNs for contravening the bus gate. The Council has explained the Tribunal’s decision does not set a precedent and each case is considered on its merits. It has issued Mr X several more PCNs for driving through the bus gate and Mr X has appealed against each of them. He claims injustice resulting from his appeals and believes the Council is wasting public money by issuing PCNs and defending appeals against them.
10. The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint. Mr X’s injustice lies in the PCNs issued to him by the Council and the time and trouble he has been put to, to challenge them. But because he has appealed against the PCNs we have no jurisdiction to investigate his complaint. We also cannot consider the impact of the Council’s actions on its budget as the issue affects all or most of the people in its area and is not subject to investigation by the Ombudsman.
11. The appeals process is intended to deal with disputes over the validity of PCNs and each case is considered on its merits. The Council is satisfied the bus gate is enforceable and if a motorist is issued with a PCN and believes it should not stand then they may appeal. There is no right to compensation for a PCN issued in error.

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Final decision

12. The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint. This is because Mr X has appealed against the PCNs issued by the Council.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman