Summary: We cannot investigate Mr C’s complaint about a Penalty Charge Notice he received from the Council. This is because Mr C appealed to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.

The complaint

1. Mr C says the Council wrongly issued him with a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) for driving in a Clean Air Zone. Mr C says he did not own this vehicle at the time of the alleged contravention.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal about the same matter. We also cannot investigate a complaint if in doing so we would overlap with the role of a tribunal to decide something which has been or could have been referred to it to resolve using its own powers. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
4. The Traffic Penalty Tribunal considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for all areas of England outside London.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Mr C.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. The Traffic Penalty Tribunal has considered and decided Mr C’s appeal against this PCN. The Tribunal decided the Council was entitled to enforce this penalty.
8. We cannot investigate a matter which has already been decided by the Traffic Penalty Tribunal. This means we cannot investigate Mr C’s complaint about this PCN and have no discretion to start an investigation.

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Final decision

9. We cannot investigate Mr C’s complaint because he has appealed to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman