Swindon Borough Council (23 020 269)
Category : Transport and highways > Parking and other penalties
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 28 Mar 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a demand for payment for a penalty charge notice sent to Mr X in error. This is because there is insufficient remaining injustice caused to Mr X to warrant our further involvement.
The complaint
- Mr X complained the Council wrongly sent him a demand for £105 for a penalty charge notice (PCN) he had paid several weeks prior. Mr X also complained that a customer advisor hung up on him when he called the Council to discuss this. Mr X says this caused him stress and sleepless nights and would like a payment from the Council of £105 in recognition of this.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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 any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- In its complaint response to Mr X, the Council explained that there had been a delay in processing his payment and that this had led to a further demand being sent out in error. The Council apologised to Mr X for this and the distress this caused.
- I recognise Mr X remains unhappy at the Council’s response, but we will not investigate. This is because from our perspective, any outstanding injustice caused to Mr X is not sufficient to justify our involvement, given we have limited resources, and as this complaint is not one we would seek a financial remedy payment for.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because any remaining injustice caused to him is not sufficient to justify our involvement.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman