Manchester City Council (23 011 776)
Category : Transport and highways > Parking and other penalties
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 22 Nov 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about a penalty charge notice issued by the Council. This is because it would be reasonable for Mr X to appeal.
The complaint
- The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council issued him a penalty charge notice (PCN) for a parking contravention despite him having a valid parking ticket and clearly demonstrating that he had parked to load/unload his vehicle.
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. 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)
- The Traffic Penalty Tribunal considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for all areas of England outside London.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- 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’.
- 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 the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.
- Mr X clearly disputes the PCN issued to him by the Council but its validity is a matter for the appeals process. I have seen nothing to suggest it would not be reasonable for Mr X to follow the process and appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal and I will not therefore exercise our discretion to investigate the complaint.
Final decision
- We will not investigate this complaint. This is because it would be reasonable for Mr X to appeal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman