Cherwell District Council (24 014 025)
Category : Transport and highways > Parking and other penalties
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 02 Jan 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the enforcement of a penalty charge notice as Mr X can ask the court to consider his case.
The complaint
- Mr X complains he appealed against a parking penalty charge notice (PCN) but heard nothing further about it until enforcement agents (EAs) visited his home. Mr X paid the outstanding amount of the PCN to the EAs but seeks a refund of this money as he says he paid to park and the Council did not properly deal with his appeal.
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 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 the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X complains he received a parking PCN despite him having paid to park online. Mr X appealed against the PCN but says he received no response nor any further letters about it. Mr X complains EAs visited his property unannounced, at which point, Mr X’s mother paid the PCN.
- Parliament has provided a procedure whereby Mr X can challenge the enforcement of the PCN with the court at the Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC). As this is the procedure provided in law, it is reasonable in my view to expect Mr X to use it. We are not another level of appeal and cannot determine if the PCN was valid or not.
- Mr X sent me a copy of the representations he made against the PCN but this shows there was an error in the email address Mr X used. This explains why no response was provided to it.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he can ask the TEC to consider his case.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman