Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about a penalty charge notice for a parking contravention. The complainant had a right of appeal against the penalty charge notice and there is no evidence of other fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to here as Mr B, has complained about how the Council dealt with a penalty charge notice for a parking contravention. He believes the Council should adopt a fairer system and publish details of when it will cancel a penalty charge notice.

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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. It 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)
3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these.
4. 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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I have considered what Mr B said in his complaint. Mr B commented on a draft before I made this decision.

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What I found

Background

6. The Council enforces parking restrictions and takes recovery action using procedures set out in the Traffic Management Act 2004 and associated Regulations. Councils and motorists must follow these procedures although councils have discretion to stop enforcement or recovery action if they believe there are good reasons to do so.
7. In law, the owner of vehicle is responsible for any penalty charges regardless of who was driving at the time of the contravention. This is most often the person registered with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) as the keeper of the vehicle. Enforcement authorities will initially send any formal documents using details provided by the DVLA.
8. Mr B had a right of appeal against the 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 2 would generally apply.

Summary of events

9. The Council issued a penalty charge notice to Mr B because it believed he had parked without displaying the required proof of payment. This required him to pay £70 although the Council could accept a discounted payment of £35 within 14 days.
10. Mr B contacted the Council to explain why he believed it should cancel the penalty charge. The Council decided not to accept Mr B’s reasons and explained he could:
• pay the discounted amount of £35 within 14 days;
• pay the full penalty charge of £70 within 28 days; or
• wait for it to send a ‘notice to owner’ to the keeper. The keeper could then make formal representations against the penalty charge notice to the Council and appeal to the TPT if necessary.
11. Mr B decided to pay the discounted amount £35 and the Council closed the case. He says he only paid because, if he appealed and lost, he would have to pay £70.

Analysis

12. I have seen no reason Mr B could not have waited for the notice to owner and appealed to the TPT if necessary. So the restriction I describe in paragraph 2 applies and we should not investigate a complaint about the penalty charge notice itself. Any appeal would have been against the £70 penalty; the law does not allow and appeal against the discounted amount.
13. I have seen nothing to suggest fault by the Council in how it has dealt with the matter. It was for the Council to decide if there were good reasons to cancel the penalty charge notice. As such decisions are made on the basis of each individual case, there is no expectation that a council should explain in advance when it would cancel a penalty charge notice.

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Final decision

14. I have decided we will not investigate this complaint. This is because Mr B had a right of appeal against the penalty charge notice and there is nothing to suggest other fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman