Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about a parking issue. This is because the Council has correctly applied the terms and conditions of Mrs X’s white badge and it would be reasonable for Mrs X to appeal if she believes it was wrong to issue her a penalty charge notice.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council advised her to apply for a white disabled badge following the theft of her blue badge from her car. She says she parked in a resident’s only bay for several months without issue but then received a penalty charge notice (PCN). The white badge only allows users to park in designated disabled parking bays but Mrs X says the closest one is too far away and there is only one, which means it is often not available. She has applied to the Council for a disabled parking bay but says she has not received a response to her application.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. 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)
5. London Tribunals considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for London.

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. In response to the increase in thefts of disabled blue badges the Council introduced a white badge scheme. This allows the holder of the white badge to park in disabled parking bays in the Borough without displaying their blue badge. White badges do not however allow the holder to park in resident’s only parking bays or on yellow lines, as blue badges do.
9. Mrs X applied for a white badge on the Council’s advice as she was concerned about blue badge thefts. She parked in a resident’s only parking bay for several months without any issues but then received a PCN.
10. Mrs X complained to the Council and it dealt with her complaint as a challenge to the PCN, which it agreed to cancel. However Mrs X suggests there is at least one PCN outstanding and this is where Mrs X’s injustice lies.
11. Every PCN carries a right of appeal and the appeal right in this case is to London Tribunals. If therefore Mrs X has received any further PCNs we would expect her to appeal. As part of an appeal to London Tribunals Mrs X may argue that she could not walk any further and was using a valid white badge, which she could only get because she had a blue badge, and that she had not displayed her blue badge due to her concerns about it being stolen.
12. It is not our role to determine the validity of the PCN and it is clear from the terms and conditions for use of the white badge that it does not allow the holder to park in a resident’s only bay. We could not therefore say the Council was at fault for issuing the PCN and it is not for us to say it should allow white badge holders to park in resident’s only bays.
13. Mrs X may continue to park in resident’s only parking bays by displaying her blue badge and it is unfortunate she has been put in the situation where she does not feel safe doing so. But we could not say this was the result of any fault by the Council. It does not take on responsibility for the criminal actions of third parties, which is a matter for the police.
14. In order to park closer to her home Mrs X says she applied to the Council for a disabled parking bay but she has not yet received a response. However I have seen no evidence to show she has exhausted the Council’s complaints procedure on this point and I have therefore reached no decision on whether we should investigate it. If Mrs X wishes to pursue the issue she should make a new complaint to the Council about it. If, once the Council has provided its final response, she remains unhappy she may make a new complaint and we will consider it further.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because Mrs X has a right of appeal against any PCN which it would be reasonable for her to use. There is also not enough evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman