Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council issuing penalty charge notices (PCNs) to the holder of a blue disability badge. It was reasonable for Mr X to appeal to the London Tribunals about the issuing of the PCNs. Mr X also complained about the Council’s failure to consider the provisions of the Equality Act 2010. There is not enough evidence the Council failed to consider his requirements under the Public Sector Equality Duty and only the courts can determine if the provisions of the Act were breached.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council issuing him with two separate Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) for parking in non-compliance with the regulations. He says he is a disabled blue badge holder and that the Council failed to take this into account when it issued the notices. He says the Council failed to comply with the provisions of the Equality Act 2010 with regard to discrimination, reasonable adjustments and the public Sector equality Duty.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
3. London Tribunals considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for London.
4. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered the information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mr X says he was issued with two separate PCNs for parking in areas with restrictions when he displayed a blue disabled badge. He challenged the PCNs and made representations to the Council giving his reasons and quoting the provisions of the Equality Act 2010. The Council rejected the submissions and advised him to appeal to the London Tribunals which is the body which deals with PCN disputes.
8. We will not investigate complaints about challenges to PCNs where it is clear that the council has advised the complainant of their rights to appeal to the independent parking adjudicator at the London Tribunals for penalties under the Traffic Management Act 2004. Under the civil enforcement procedure, the parking authority is required to provide the details of the appeals service after rejecting representations by the vehicle owner. It was reasonable to expect Mr X to appeal the penalties.
9. The Ombudsman cannot find that a body in jurisdiction has breached the Equality Act 2010. However, we can find a body at fault for failing to take account of their duties under the Equality Act. If we receive a complaint that an individual, or group of people, with protected characteristics has been unfairly disadvantaged by the introduction or revision to a council policy, we should consider whether the council had regard for the public sector equality duty as part of its decision making.
10. I can see that in the Stage 2 response issued by the Council dated 6 May it states in detail why it did not consider it had breached the duty and had taken all Mr X’s concerns into account.
11. This is clear to me that the Council did consider the Public Sector Equality Duty and gave him an explanation of its decision on this. Mr X may disagree with the interpretation of the legislation but this does not alter the fact that the response covers the requirement and so we cannot say there was fault by ignoring the duty. Section 113 of the Act provides members of the public with recourse to the county court for damages claims, if they believe they have suffered unlawful discrimination.
12. Mr X raised the issue of the wider implications of the Council’s actions to serve PCNs on members of the community who have blue disabled badges. We consider complaints about actions which have caused personal injustice to the applicant. We cannot consider this in a wider context, particularly as the issue of each PCN reflects circumstances unique to that offence. It would be for individuals issued with a PCN to seek their own remedy.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate this complaint because:
• it was reasonable for Mr X to appeal to the London Tribunals about the issuing of the penalties so we have no power to investigate; and
• there is no evidence the Council failed to consider his requirements under the Public Sector Equality Duty and only the courts can determine if the provisions of the Equality Act 2010 were breached.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman