Bristol City Council (25 000 218)
Category : Transport and highways > Parking and other penalties
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 07 May 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about Penalty Charge Notices because the complainant appealed to the tribunal.
The complaint
- The complainant, Mr X, complains about Penalty Charge Notices (PCN) he has received. He says the Council ignored his submission that he cannot afford to pay.
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 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)
- The Traffic Penalty Tribunal considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for all areas of England outside London.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X. This includes the tribunal decision. I also considered our Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Between October and December the Council issued Mr X with about six PCNs for parking without displaying a permit. The Council cancelled one PCN. Mr X says he had to park at that location for work.
- Mr X appealed to the tribunal. The grounds for his appeal were that he cannot afford to pay and is in financial hardship.
- The tribunal dismissed the appeal and said he must pay £70 for each fine. The tribunal noted it cannot cancel a PCN on the grounds of mitigation. The adjudicator noted the Council had reported giving Mr X the opportunity to pay the fines at a discounted rate.
- I cannot start an investigation because the law says we cannot investigate any matter that has formed part of an appeal to the tribunal. This restriction applies even if the appellant loses the appeal. The adjudicator could have asked the Council to reconsider if there mitigating factors which would persuade the Council to waive the fines – but the adjudicator did not make this request.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate this complaint because the complainant appealed to the tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman