Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council refused to give him the opportunity to pay a penalty charge notice at the discounted rate if his representations were unsuccessful. This is because it is unlikely we would find fault. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the penalty charge notice itself as it would have been reasonable for him to appeal.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains about a penalty charge notice issued by the Council. He paid the PCN at the discounted rate of £65 as he did not wish to risk the fine increasing.

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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’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we would find fault.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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. 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

5. I reviewed Mr X’s complaint, shared my draft decision with him and invited his comments.

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What I found

6. The Council issued Mr X a PCN for a moving traffic contravention which he disputes.
7. 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.
8. The motorist has 28 days from the date of the notice to pay the penalty charge or make representations against it. For the first 14 days after the PCN the motorist may pay at a discounted rate of 50% of the full fine.
9. Mr X says the Council has failed to put up adequate signs to warn of the restriction which is in force and as a result it has issued him a PCN. He paid the PCN at the discounted rate of £65 as he did not want to risk the amount increasing. He says the Council confirmed it would not re-offer the discounted rate if his representations were unsuccessful and believes this is not right. He wants the Council to put up better signage and allow motorists to pay the discounted rate within 14 days if their representations are unsuccessful.
10. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. There is no requirement for the Council to offer Mr X a second opportunity to pay at the discounted rate in the event it does not accept his representations. While it has discretion to do so the fact that it does not, is not fault.
11. Whether the PCN issued by the Council is valid, and whether its signage is sufficient to warn of the restriction, is a matter for the appeals process. Mr X has explained the reason he did not appeal but this applies to everyone and does not provide grounds to exercise our discretion to investigate his complaint.

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Final decision

12. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is unlikely we would find fault by the Council and if Mr X disputed the PCN it would have been reasonable for him to appeal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman