London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham (20 011 977)
Category : Transport and highways > Parking and other penalties
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 12 Mar 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: Mr X complains the Council unfairly issued him with a fine for entering into a box junction. Mr X wants the fine to be cancelled. We cannot investigate as Mr X appealed to an independent tribunal about the fine and we now therefore have no legal remit to become involved.
The complaint
- Mr X complains the Council unfairly issued him with a fine for entering into a box junction. Mr X complains the Council did not issue the fine in a timely fashion and also refused to provide further information that he asked for about it.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
- The Courts have said that we cannot investigate a complaint about any action by a council, concerning a matter which is itself out of our jurisdiction. (R (on the application of M) v Commissioner for Local Administration [2006] EHWCC 2847 (Admin))
How I considered this complaint
- I have considered what Mr X said in his complaint.
What I found
- Mr X complains the Council unfairly issued him with a fine for driving into a box junction when his exit was not clear. Mr X complains the Council did not send him the notice of the fine until more than 7 months after the incident. Mr X complains the Council refused to respond to questions he asked about the incident.
- Mr X appealed against the penalty to London Tribunals, the independent traffic adjudicator. It refused Mr X’s appeal.
- Mr X wants the fine to be cancelled and for the Council to respond to his questions.
Analysis
- We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about the fine as he appealed against it to an independent tribunal. This means the complaint is now not within our legal remit.
- As per paragraph 3, we cannot also investigate any associated complaints Mr X may have about the Council’s handling of this matter.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint as he appealed against the fine issued to him to an independent tribunal. The complaint is therefore now outside our legal remit.
Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman