London Borough of Barking & Dagenham (24 019 427)
Category : Transport and highways > Parking and other penalties
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 13 Mar 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of a penalty charge notice. This is because Mr X has sought a remedy for the issue at court.
The complaint
- Mr X complains he did not receive a response from the Council to his representations against a penalty charge notice (PCN).
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 courts have said that where someone has sought a remedy by way of proceedings in any court of law, we cannot investigate. This is the case even if the appeal did not or could not provide a complete remedy for all the injustice claimed. (R v The Commissioner for Local Administration ex parte PH (1999) EHCA Civ 916)
- The Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC) is part of Northampton County Court. It considers applications from local authorities to pursue payment of unpaid PCNs and from motorists to challenge local authorities’ pursuit of unpaid PCNs.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Because Mr X did not receive a response to his representations against the PCN he applied to the TEC to cancel the Council’s escalation of the case and take the process back to an earlier stage.
- Mr X has sought a remedy for the issue from the TEC and we do not therefore have jurisdiction to consider this complaint, as set out at Paragraph 3.
- I appreciate Mr X is unhappy that he did not have the chance to pay the PCN at the discounted rate of £65 but the fact the TEC did not reinstate the discount has no bearing on our jurisdiction and does not allow us to consider the matter further.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate this complaint. This is because Mr X has sought a remedy for the issue he complains about by way of an application to the TEC at Northampton County Court.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman