Oxfordshire County Council (23 009 519)
Category : Transport and highways > Parking and other penalties
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 16 Oct 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about Penalty Charge Notices because Mr Y has already used his right to start court proceedings to appeal with the Traffic Enforcement Centre.
The complaint
- Mr Y complained the Council has poorly handled his appeals against a number of Penalty Charge notices (PCNs). He is also unhappy with how the Council dealt with his complaint.
- Mr Y says this has caused him upset and worry and he has spent considerable time trying to deal with the matter.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has started court action about the matter. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
- The courts have said that where someone has used their right of appeal, reference or review or remedy by way of proceedings in any court of law, the Ombudsman has no jurisdiction to investigate. This is the case even if the appeal did not or could not provide a complete remedy for all the injustice claimed. (R v The Commissioner for Local Administration ex parte PH (1999) EHCA Civ 916)
- It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information Mr Y and the Council provided and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr Y has received several PCNs from the Council in relation to stopping outside a business premises to deliver goods. Mr Y has submitted forms to the Traffic Enforcement Centre, based at Northampton County Court, to make a witness statement against the PCNs and therefore has started the proceedings to appeal against the PCNs. Consequently, we do not have the power in law to investigate his complaint about the PCNs.
- As we are not investigating the substantive matter, it is not a good use of public funds to investigate how the Council dealt with Mr Y’s complaint so we will not investigate this.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate Mr Y’s complaint because Mr Y has already used his right to start court proceedings to appeal with the Traffic Enforcement Centre.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman