Bury Metropolitan Borough Council (24 014 122)
Category : Transport and highways > Parking and other penalties
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 10 Dec 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about two Penalty Charge Notices for a bus lane contravention. This is because the complainant appealed to the tribunal.
The complaint
- The complainant, Mr X, complains about two Penalty Charge Notices (PCN) he received for driving in a bus lane. He wants the Council to withdraw the PCNs.
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 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)
- The Traffic Penalty Tribunal considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for all areas of England outside London.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence and the tribunal decision. I also considered our Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The Council issued two PCNs for driving in a bus lane.
- Mr X appealed to the tribunal and explained the circumstances that contributed to driving in a bus lane. In February the tribunal considered but rejected his appeal. The tribunal directed Mr X to pay both fines within 28 days.
- Mr X did not pay but continued to dispute the PCNs with the Council. The fines are now with bailiffs.
- I cannot investigate this complaint because Mr X appealed to the tribunal. The law says we cannot investigate any matter that has been the subject of an appeal to the tribunal. The tribunal dismissed the appeal and said Mr X must pay both fines. Mr X did not pay so the law allowed the Council to escalate recovery of the debt to bailiffs. There is no part of the complaint we can investigate. This restriction applies even though Mr X may disagree with the decision made by the tribunal.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate this complaint because Mr X appealed to the tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman