Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about a penalty charge notice issued by the Council. This is because it would have been reasonable for him to appeal to London Tribunals. If Mr X believes the Council has failed to follow the proper process in escalating the penalty charge notice he may apply to the Traffic Enforcement Centre to take the process back to an earlier stage.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council wrongly issued him a penalty charge notice (PCN) for parking without a permit. He says the Council failed to respond to his correspondence about the PCN and has not answered his complaints.

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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 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)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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Background

7. There is a set procedure councils must follow when pursuing PCNs for parking contraventions and handling appeals against them. When a council issues a PCN the motorist has 28 days to pay the penalty charge or appeal; appeals at this stage are known as ‘informal challenges’.
8. If the motorist submits an informal challenge to a PCN and the Council decides not to accept them, it will write to the motorist and explain why. If the motorist accepts the Council’s reasons they may pay the PCN; if not, they may wait for a ‘notice to owner’. This provides a further opportunity for the owner of the vehicle to pay the charge or make ‘formal representations’ against the PCN. If the council rejects the motorist’s formal representations the motorist may appeal to London Tribunals
9. If the motorist does not pay or make formal representations the council will issue a charge certificate, increasing the amount payable by 50%. It may then apply to the Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC) at Northampton County Court to register the debt, before instructing enforcement agents (bailiffs) to recover it.

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My assessment

10. If Mr X wished to dispute the PCN it would have been reasonable for him to appeal under the process set out above. If Mr X believes the Council failed to follow the proper process, including that it failed to respond to his challenge or representations, it would be reasonable for him to apply to the TEC to make a late witness statement. If the TEC accepts Mr X’s application it may order the Council to take the process back to an earlier stage, reducing the amount of the PCN and reinstating his right of appeal.
11. Mr X is also unhappy with the way the Council dealt with his complaint. But it is not a good use of public resources to look at the Council’s complaints handling if we are not going to look at the substantive issue complained about. We will not therefore investigate this issue separately.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because Mr X had a right of appeal which it would have been reasonable for him to use and he may apply to the TEC to reinstate this right, if he believes the Council has failed to follow the proper process in pursuing the PCN.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman