London Borough of Harrow (23 007 732)
Category : Transport and highways > Parking and other penalties
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 19 Sep 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate Mr Y’s complaint about a penalty charge notice issued by the Council. This is because Mr Y has used his right of appeal to London Tribunals.
The complaint
- The complainant, Mr X, complains about a penalty charge notice (PCN) issued to his son, Mr Y, for failing to comply with a keep left/right sign. He says the Council’s signage is inadequate and that the Council encouraged Mr Y to appeal and did not make clear that if his appeal was unsuccessful he would have to pay the full penalty charge of £130.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a tribunal about the same matter. We may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal but cannot investigate if the person has already appealed. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
- London Tribunals considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for London.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Because Mr Y has appealed against the PCN we cannot investigate any complaint about it, as set out at Paragraph 2.
- As part of Mr Y’s appeal the Adjudicator considered the adequacy of the Council’s signs and the amount of the PCN and was satisfied the contravention occurred, there were no mitigating factors which would warrant cancellation of the PCN and that the Council made Mr Y aware the penalty charge would revert to the full amount of £130 in the event his appeal was unsuccessful.
- While Mr X is also unhappy about the way the Council dealt with his complaint the courts have said that where we cannot investigate a complaint about the main or underlying issue, we cannot normally investigate related issues either. (R (on the application of M) v Commissioner for Local Administration in England [2006] EWHC 2847 (Admin)). We cannot therefore investigate whether the Council properly considered his complaint about the PCN and the Council’s signage.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate this complaint. This is because Mr Y has used his right of appeal to London Tribunals.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman