Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council (24 007 749)
Category : Transport and highways > Parking and other penalties
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 14 Aug 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Penalty Charge Notice. This is because it is reasonable to expect Mr X to appeal to the Traffic Enforcement Centre and then the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.
The complaint
- In summary, Mr X complains the Council sent a parking charge notice (PCN) to the wrong address and he lost his appeal rights.
- Mr X would like his appeal rights reinstated.
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 Traffic Penalty Tribunal considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for all areas of England outside London.
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X complained to the Council after an enforcement agent contacted him at his home regarding a PCN. Mr X says the Council had the wrong address for him. And that it failed to send him the Notice To Owner form which would have given him appeal rights. Mr X considers the Council has got his case details mixed up with someone else’s.
- The Council did not uphold Mr X’s complaint. The Council said it had sent the PCN to the registered address as notified.
- Mr X has brought the complaint to the Ombudsman because he remains unhappy with the Council’s actions. The Ombudsman will not investigate complaints where the complainant has right of appeal to a more appropriate body. In this case, Mr X had a right of appeal to the traffic enforcement centre (TEC) on the grounds that he did not receive the notice to owner. It would therefore be reasonable for Mr X to use it.
- If the TEC accepts Mr X’s application it can take the process back to an earlier stage, reinstating Mr X’s right to appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because Mr X has right of appeal to the traffic enforcement centre and it would be reasonable for him to use it.
Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman