Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a Penalty Charge Notice. There is insufficient evidence of fault in how the Council considered Mr X’s appeal, and it is reasonable for him to use his right to file a statutory declaration with the county court on the basis that he did not receive the Council’s Notice of Rejection.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council did not place a hold on his Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) while considering his appeal, resulting in charge increases. He says the Council did not respond to his attempts to communicate and delayed considering his appeal for four months. He says he has been put to inconvenience and has experienced stress due to the events. He would like the Council to accept the discounted rate, and to make service improvements.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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)
4. We investigate 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 continue 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

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. PCNs bring with them a statutory right of appeal via tribunal, so we would not normally consider a complaint about a PCN. However, in Mr X’s case, he could not have appealed to a tribunal as his appeal was based on mitigating circumstances, rather than one of the statutory grounds for appeal. I have therefore considered whether there is evidence of fault in how the Council considered his appeal.
8. Mr X says he did not receive a Notice of Rejection from the Council. However, the Council has provided a copy of its notice, sent two weeks after Mr X appealed. The notice shows the Council considered the reasons for Mr X’s appeal, but refused it. I have not found evidence of fault in how the Council came to its decision to refuse Mr X’s appeal. We will therefore not investigate a complaint about the PCN itself.
9. Given that Mr X says he did not receive the Notice of Rejection, it is open to him to not pay and wait for the Council to file the case with the county court. At this point, Mr X has a right to file a statutory declaration on the grounds that “I made representations about the penalty charge to the local authority concerned within 28 days of the service of the Notice to Owner/Enforcement Notice/Penalty Charge Notice, but did not receive a rejection notice”. If successful, this would have the effect of reducing the charge to the original, discounted rate. It is reasonable for Mr X to pursue this option and so we will not consider the complaint.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault in how the Council considered Mr X's appeal, and it is reasonable for him to use his right to file a statutory declaration with the county court on the basis that he did not receive the Council's Notice of Rejection

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman