Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a parking penalty charge notice as the complaint is made late and there are not good reasons to investigate now. The Council's escalation of the matter to its enforcement agents could have been challenged in court.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains he was wrongly issued with a parking penalty charge notice (PCN) as he says he was displaying his disabled parking badge at the time. Mr X complains he was unable to formally appeal the PCN as he says he was not given a ‘web code’ to allow him to do so. Mr X says this has caused him stress which has impacted on his health.

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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 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)
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 information provided by the complainant.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. The PCN was issued to Mr X in August 2023. Any problems Mr X had with making an appeal against the PCN would have occurred therefore around this time. Mr X complained to us in May 2025 which means his complaint is made late to us as not made within a year of him knowing about the problem. As per paragraph three, the law says we should not investigate such complaints unless there are good reasons. Mr X has not provided good reasons for his complaint being late and we will not therefore investigate.
8. The legal process under which unpaid PCNs are recovered allows the use of enforcement agents. It is not clear from the information provided when Mr X’s case was passed to enforcement agents, and so this aspect of the complaint may also be late. However, this could have been challenged by asking the court at the Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC) to consider whether it should have been revoked. On receipt of the order for recovery notice, Mr X had the right to ask the court to consider his case if he believed he had grounds to do so. As this is the procedure provided in law, it is reasonable to expect Mr X to have used it if it was applicable to his case.
9. For these reasons, we will not investigate.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is made late and if something went wrong in the Council's enforcement of the PCN, Mr X had the right to ask the TEC to consider his case.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman