London Borough of Camden (24 015 685)
Category : Transport and highways > Parking and other penalties
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 16 Jan 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a penalty charge notice as the complainant had the right to appeal it to London Tribunals.
The complaint
- Mr X complains about a penalty charge notice (PCN) the Council issued to him. Mr X says the matter has been delayed and wants it to be resolved.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Parliament has provided an appeal mechanism, ultimately to independent adjudicators at London Tribunals, that Mr X could have used to challenge the PCN. We are not another level of appeal and cannot determine if the PCN was valid or not. It is reasonable therefore to expect Mr X to have used the statutory appeal process and we will not therefore investigate.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is reasonable to expect him to have challenged the PCN by way of an appeal to London Tribunals.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman