Summary: We cannot by law investigate this complaint about the Council allegedly issuing the complainant three separate penalty charge notices in error. This is because the complainant has appealed the notices to a statutory tribunal and we have no jurisdiction to investigate in these circumstances.

The complaint

1. The complainant (Ms Q) complains about the Council’s decision to issue her three separate penalty charge notices (PCNs) for allegedly not observing vehicle no entry restrictions. She says the Council told her it would get back to her about the PCNs when she challenged them, but it instead referred these to court. Ms Q says the PCNs were issued incorrectly which has affected her financially and emotionally. As a desired outcome, she wants the Council to cancel the amounts.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal about the same matter. We also cannot investigate a complaint if in doing so we would overlap with the role of a tribunal to decide something which has been or could have been referred to it to resolve using its own powers. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended).

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

4. By law, we cannot investigate a complaint where the issues have been subject to an appeal to a statutory tribunal. Both Ms Q and the Council confirm the PCNs have been appealed to an adjudicator at London Tribunals which made a decision on these in July 2023. We therefore have no jurisdiction to investigate.

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Final decision

5. We cannot by law investigate this complaint because the complainant has appealed to a statutory tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman