Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to enforce a penalty charge notice Mr X believes he has already paid. This is because we would be unlikely to find fault with the Council’s actions.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council wrongly charged him for a penalty charge notice he had already paid.
2. He said he has been put to financial loss and inconvenience due to the Council’s actions.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. The Council issued two penalty charge notices (PCN) to Mr X on 7 and 8 July 2023. Mr X paid one of them but maintains he did not receive the other. The Council issued Mr X with a notice to owner informing him of the outstanding PCN and a warrant of control. After the Council did not receive a challenge or payment it passed the charge to enforcement agents, at which point Mr X paid the charge.
7. Mr X complained to the Council that he did not receive notice of the PCN until it had been passed to enforcement and he wanted to be reimbursed. The Council explained photographic evidence was taken when it issued the PCN and letters were sent to his address with no response, so the charge was valid.
8. Mr X remains unhappy with the situation and wants us to find the Council at fault for maintaining the charge. It would have been reasonable for Mr X to appeal the charge at the traffic enforcement centre however he opted to pay it. The evidence indicates the Council acted in line with the correct process when it served the PCN and there is nothing to suggest the charge is not valid.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we would be unlikely to find fault with the Council’s actions.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman