Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a penalty charge notice for a parking contravention as Mr X could have appealed against it to the independent parking tribunal.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council unfairly issued a penalty charge notice (PCN) to him as he had parked in a bay that he had paid for. Mr X wants the penalty to be waived.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. The PCN was issued under the Traffic Management Act 2004 and this provides a statutory appeal process. It is reasonable for Mr X to have made an appeal to challenge the PCN, ultimately to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal (TPT). The TPT has the power to say whether a PCN should be enforced; we do not.
6. For these reasons, we will not investigate.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he could have reasonably appealed against the PCN to the TPT.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman