London Borough of Barnet (25 005 998)
Category : Transport and highways > Parking and other penalties
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 09 Sep 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to cancel a penalty charge notice. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
- Mr X complains the Council refused to cancel a penalty charge notice (PCN) for a prohibited left turn which Mr X says was the result of a medical emergency.
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 effect 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 an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- We are not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong.
- While I have no doubt Mr X has complex health conditions as he claims it is clear from the information he has provided that the Council considered these in dealing with his representations against the PCN. It ultimately decided these health conditions did not provide grounds to cancel the PCN but this is a decision it was entitled to reach and I have seen no evidence to show it was affected by fault. We cannot therefore criticise it.
- Mr X reports that the amount of the penalty charge has now increased but this is the result of non-payment and compliance with the statutory process, rather than any fault by the Council. We could not therefore say the Council must reduce or waive the amount owed.
Final decision
- We will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman