Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint that the Council has not given the complainant a code to allow him to appeal to the tribunal about a penalty charge notice. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains that the Council has not given him a code to allow him to appeal to the tribunal about a penalty charge notice (PCN).

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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 an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we would find fault. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
3. 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

4. I read the complaint and all the letters the Council sent to Mr X about the PCN. I considered comments Mr X made in reply to a draft of this decision.

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What I found

Penalty Charge Notice

5. If someone disputes a PCN they can make an initial challenge. If the Council rejects the challenge it sends Notice of Decline of Challenge and offers another chance to pay the fine at a reduced rate. If the person neither pays nor appeals the Council will issue an Enforcement Notice. This states the person has 28 days to pay the fine at the standard rate or make a formal challenge to the Council. The Enforcement Notice includes a form for the formal challenge. If the Council rejects the formal challenge it issues a Notice of Rejection. The Notice of Rejection includes the appeal information so the person can appeal to the tribunal. People cannot appeal to the tribunal until they have used the Enforcement Notice and received a Notice of Rejection.

What happened

6. In December the Council sent Mr X a PCN for a bus lane offence. The fine was £130 but this was reduced to £65 if Mr X paid promptly and did not appeal. Mr X made an initial challenge which the Council rejected in the Notice of Decline of Challenge. The Council gave Mr X another chance to pay at the reduced rate or said he could wait for the Enforcement Notice and make a formal challenge. Mr X did not pay.
7. Mr X called the tribunal who said he needed a code from the Council to appeal. Mr X said he did not have a code so he sent an appeal to the tribunal without a code.
8. On 7 February the Council sent the Enforcement Notice. The fine was now £130. The letter said Mr X could pay or make a formal challenge. The letter said that if the Council rejected the formal challenge it would issue a Notice of Rejection which would allow Mr X to appeal to the tribunal. The Enforcement Notice gave Mr X 28 days to make a formal challenge.
9. Mr X rang the tribunal who said they could not deal with his appeal and he needed to deal with the Council. Mr X says he tried to get an appeal code from the Council but this has not been possible.
10. The Council has not received a formal challenge from Mr X using the Enforcement Notice and the 28 days have passed. The next step will be for the Council to issue a Charge Certificate and the fine will increase to £195.
11. Mr X says the Council has not allowed him to appeal to the tribunal. He also says the Council has doubled the fine.

Assessment

12. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council explained to Mr X that he could use the Enforcement Notice to make a formal challenge and, if that was unsuccessful, he would be given the means to appeal to the tribunal. Mr X has not made a formal challenge using the Enforcement Notice so the Council has not been able to consider his case again or issue a Notice of Rejection. Mr X needed to receive a Notice of Rejection before he could appeal to the tribunal.
13. Mr X says the Council has doubled the fine. This is incorrect. The fine is £130 but the law gives people a reduction if they pay promptly. Mr X has not paid the fine promptly and has lost the chance to pay at the reduced rate. He is now required to pay the fine at the standard rate but this may increase if he continues not to pay and the Council issues a Charge Certificate. Mr X has indicated that he wants to appeal to the tribunal and the reduced rate of £65 is not available to people who appeal.

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Final decision

14. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman