Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about penalty charge notices. This is because Mr X exercised his right to ask the court at the Traffic Enforcement Centre to consider his case. As such, we now have no legal remit to become involved.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council was wrong to use enforcement agents in respect of two penalty charge notices (PCN) that had been issued to him as Mr X says he did not receive the proper documentation about either PCN. Mr X wants the Council to refund some of the money he paid to the enforcement agent that came to his home.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The courts have said that where someone has used their right of appeal, reference or review or remedy by way of proceedings in any court of law, the Ombudsman has no jurisdiction to investigate. This is the case even if the appeal did not or could not provide a complete remedy for all the injustice claimed. (R v The Commissioner for Local Administration ex parte PH (1999) EHCA Civ 916)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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Background

5. The Council issued Mr X with two PCNs for parking contraventions in 2019. Mr X complained to the Council that he did not receive the legal notices about the PCNs and that one of the PCNs was not issued properly in that it was not attached to his vehicle.
6. Mr X was in contact with the Council about the PCNs over several months and in August 2020, he received a formal notice indicating the Council’s enforcement agents (EA) were involved. Mr X contacted the EA and they advised him about his right to take his case to the Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC). Mr X says he did this in November 2020 but heard nothing further until the EA came to his home in December 2020.
7. Mr X paid the fees charged by the EA but remains unhappy about how the Council dealt with the PCNs. He says that had he received the notices about them, the EA would not have needed to have become involved.
8. The Council says the case was put on hold for Mr X to contact the TEC. The Council says it had no contact from the TEC so the hold was taken off and enforcement continued.

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My assessment

9. The PCNs were issued under the Traffic Management Act 2004 and this provides a procedure whereby the court at the TEC will consider whether to set back the enforcement of a PCN, to the appeal stage, if something has gone wrong, administratively, along the way. Mr X exercised this right and because of this, as per paragraph two, we no longer have any legal remit to investigate.
10. When Mr X did not hear back from the TEC, the onus was on him to contact it again to find out what was happening. The TEC is a court and we have no remit to look into how it dealt with Mr X’s case.
11. For these reasons, we cannot investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

12. As Mr X used his right to go to court, we have no legal remit to investigate this complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman