Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a Penalty Charge Notice because it is reasonable to expect Mrs Y to appeal to the Traffic Enforcement Centre and then to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.

The complaint

1. Mrs Y complained the Council has failed to properly consider her representations against a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) and referred to a different reason for her PCN in the Notice of Rejection to that on the PCN itself. Mrs Y also complained about how the Council responded to her complaint, which she felt was rude and dismissive.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review 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 use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
4. The Traffic Penalty Tribunal considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for all areas of England outside London.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information Mrs Y provided and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mrs Y has a right to appeal the PCN further to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal (TPT) if she wishes. The TPT can consider how the Council dealt with Mrs Y’s appeal, and whether it followed the correct process in considering her representations. If it finds that it did not consider her representations properly, it can then consider the issues Mrs Y has raised as the reasons why the PCN is either invalid or should not be enforced.
7. Usually, a person must make an appeal to the tribunal within 28 days of a Notice of Rejection to representations being issued. Mrs Y may therefore need to approach the Traffic Enforcement Centre once a charge certificate is issued by the Council to seek permission to appeal to the TPT after the deadline. However, this would be something which Mrs Y may wish to approach the TPT to confirm.
8. The TPT is free in the initial stages and can make reasonable adjustments if necessary. I would therefore consider it reasonable for Mrs Y to use her right of appeal. We will therefore not investigate this complaint.
9. As we are not investigating the substantive complaint, it is not a good use of public funds to investigate how the Council dealt with the complaint. We will not investigate.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs Y’s complaint because it is reasonable to expect Mrs Y to appeal to the Traffic Enforcement Centre and then to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman