London Borough of Harrow (24 020 844)
Category : Transport and highways > Parking and other penalties
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 20 Mar 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about enforcement of a parking penalty charge as the complaint is made late and there are not good reasons to investigate now.
The complaint
- Mr X complains about the Council’s handling of a parking penalty charge notice (PCN) which he says led to unjustified enforcement and excessive fees.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
- The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The Council issued Mr X with a PCN in March 2023. Mr X says he appealed against it but he says that the Council did not respond. The Council passed the unpaid PCN to its enforcement agents in September 2023. This, it said, was after an Order for Recovery was sent to Mr X in August 2023.
- Mr X has been aware of this matter since 2023 but did not complain to us until early 2025. Mr X’s complaint is therefore made late to us. It is reasonable to expect Mr X to have complained to us sooner and within a year of knowing about the problem. As such, I do not consider there is good reason to investigate now.
- On receipt of the Order for Recovery, Mr X could have asked the court at the Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC) to consider his case. This is the procedure Parliament provided for motorists in Mr X’s position to challenge the enforcement of a PCN and it is therefore reasonable to expect Mr X to have followed this procedure.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is made late and there are not good reasons to investigate now.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman