Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to issue her a penalty charge notice. This is because Ms X could have appealed to the tribunal about the matter.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council unfairly issued her a penalty charge notice, increased the fine whilst she waited for the Council to investigate her complaint and delayed responding to her complaint. Ms X wants the Council to review its parking permit system as she said it is flawed and wants the Council to issue her a partial refund.

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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. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Ms X was visiting a resident and parked her vehicle in the parking space for residents. The Council requires residents and visitors to display a valid parking permit. Residents can apply to the Council to issue parking permits for visitors.
7. Ms X did not display a valid parking permit and instead, placed a note on her vehicle which provided details of which property she was visiting and that the resident she was visiting was waiting for a visitor’s parking permit to arrive. The Council’s enforcement officer issued Ms X a penalty charge notice. The Council had given Ms X the option to pay only 50% of the fine if she paid it within a specified time. After this period, she would be required to pay it in full.
8. Ms X informally challenged the Council’s decision to issue her a fine as she said she was waiting for a visitors permit to arrive which had arrived on the morning the Council issued the fine. She said after receiving the permit, she had displayed it on her vehicle. The Council declined her challenge because she had not displayed a valid parking permit.
9. Ms X complained to the Council about its decision to issue her a fine. The Council did not uphold her complaint as it established its enforcement officer had fairly issued the fine. It told Ms X it had a three-stage process where someone could challenge a penalty charge notice which included making a formal representation to the Council and appealing to a tribunal. It provided Ms X with the details of the process and said she still had the option to pursue the matter via the process. Ms X did not pursue the matter further via the process and instead complained to the Council again. The Council provided Ms X with a further response and did not uphold her complaint, reiterating its reasons from its previous response. By this time, Ms X was required to pay the full amount of the fine.
10. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because Ms X had the option to follow the Council’s process and appeal the matter to the tribunal and did not do so. It would have been reasonable for her to appeal the penalty charge notice. The tribunal is the correct body to consider penalty charge notices and has the power to cancel them – the Ombudsman does not have that power.
11. We will also not investigate how the Council investigated Ms X’s complaint as we are not investigating the substantive matter.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because she could have appealed to the tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman