Lincoln City Council (25 003 249)
Category : Transport and highways > Parking and other penalties
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 20 Jul 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council not notifying Mr X his parking permit was about to expire. This is because the injustice claimed is not significant enough to warrant an investigation.
The complaint
- Mr X complains he did not receive a reminder that his parking permit was due to expire and then received a penalty charge notice (PCN) due to having an expired permit.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered the information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- In April 2025 Mr X’s parking permit expired. In May, Mr X received a PCN for parking with an expired permit. He paid a £25 charge.
- Mr X complains the Council failed to remind him the permit was due to expire.
- The Council confirmed the vehicle specific parking permit was not issued to Mr X, but to another individual. Therefore, Mr X would not have received any reminder for renewal. Nevertheless, the Council have apologised for not reminding Mr X the permit was due to expire and would need to be renewed.
- I recognise Mr X is unhappy at the Council’s response, but we will not investigate as the outstanding injustice caused is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the injustice caused to him is not significant enough to justify an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman