London Borough of Lewisham (24 020 542)
Category : Transport and highways > Parking and other penalties
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 31 Mar 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about Penalty Charge Notices because Mr Y has already used his right to appeal to the Traffic Enforcement Centre.
The complaint
- Mr Y complained he has not received over 30 Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) from the Council and the Council has then enforced the PCNs unfairly. He is also unhappy with the Council’s response to his complaint, where it has not suggested any alternative means of ensuring he receives any further 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 started court action about the matter. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
- It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information Mr Y provided and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The law which gives us the power to investigate complaints also prevents us from investigating where a person has begun court action. In this case, Mr Y has appealed the pursuit of the PCNs he has complained about to the Traffic Enforcement Centre.
- The Traffic Enforcement Centre is based at Northampton County Court. Consequently, as he has started court action about the matter, we cannot investigate as we do not have the power to do so.
- While Mr Y may have found the Council’s response unhelpful, the Council is not required to arrange for further methods, other than by post to the address a vehicle is registered to with the DVLA, of delivery of PCNs or enforcement correspondence. However, as we are not able to investigate the substantive matter, it is not a good use of public funds for us to investigate how the Council dealt with Mr Y’s complaint. Therefore, we will not investigate.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate Mr Y’s complaint because he has already used his right to appeal to the Traffic Enforcement Centre.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman