Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of a penalty charge notice matter. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault and it would be reasonable for Miss X to refer the issues to other bodies which are better placed to consider her concerns.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Miss X, complains about the Council’s pursuit of payment for seven penalty charge notices (PCNs), which she disputes.

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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.
3. 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)
4. London Tribunals (previously known as the Parking and Traffic Appeals Service) considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for London.
5. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
6. We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner if they have a complaint about data protection. However, we may decide to investigate if we think there are good reasons. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered information provided by Miss X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

The PCNs

8. Had Miss X wished to challenge the PCNs it would have been reasonable for her to appeal. The appeals process is free and easy to follow and the adjudicator’s decisions are binding on both parties.
9. In the event Miss X did not receive the Council’s correspondence about the PCNs she may apply to the Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC) at Northampton County Court to make a witness statement/statutory declaration. She may do this on the grounds she did not receive the relevant documents. If the TEC accepts Miss X’s application it may order the Council to take the process back to an earlier stage, reducing the amounts owed and reinstating her right of appeal against the PCNs.
10. It is possible Miss X is now outside the normal time limit to make a witness statement/statutory declaration but if this is the case she may ask the court to consider her application ‘out of time’. If she is not happy with the court’s decision on her application she may apply for a review.

Subject access request

11. Miss X has made a subject access request to the Council for information relating to her and the process for escalating the PCNs; she says the Council has failed to respond to her request.
12. The Information Commissioner is the expert in data protection matters and they are better placed to consider this issue. If they find the Council has failed to respond to Miss X’s request and has not released information Miss X is entitled to they may direct the Council to comply.

Payment by instalments

13. The Council or its enforcement agents may agree a payment arrangement with a debtor but such decisions are at its discretion. Miss X says she can only afford to pay £5 per month towards the debt but at this rate it will take some 20 years to pay what she owes and it is not irrational for the Council to have refused the request. Miss X may wish to discuss this matter further with the Council’s enforcement agents and should be aware that they have the power to remove her belongings to satisfy the debt. The debt will not however result in the issue of a county court judgement against her, as this is not part of the process.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the PCNs as it would have been reasonable for her to appeal. In the event she did not receive the Council’s correspondence it would be reasonable for her to apply to the TEC to take the process back to an earlier stage. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her subject access request as the Information Commissioner is better placed to consider the matter. And we will not investigate the Council’s decision not to accept a payment arrangement for £5 per month as it is unlikely we would find fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman