Birmingham City Council (25 009 445)
Category : Transport and highways > Parking and other penalties
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 01 Sep 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a Penalty Charge Notice. This is because it is a late complaint and because the complainant could have appealed to the tribunal.
The complaint
- The complainant, Mr X, complains about a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) he received for late payment of the charge to enter the clean air zone. He wants the Council to remove the fine.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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)
- 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)
- The Traffic Penalty Tribunal considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for all areas of England outside London.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X. I also considered our Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The Council issued Mr X with a PCN in November 2023. Mr X challenged the fine.
- The Council rejected his challenge in January 2024. The Council said he could pay the fine or appeal to the tribunal within 28 days.
- Mr X complained to us about the PCN in July 2025.
- I will not start an investigation because this is a late complaint. Mr X has been aware of the PCN since 2023 but did not complain to us until July 2025. I have not seen any good reason to accept a late complaint.
- I also will not start an investigation because Mr X could have appealed to the tribunal. It is reasonable to expect him to appeal because the tribunal is the correct body to consider appeals about PCNs. If appropriate, the tribunal has the power to cancel a PCN – we do not have that power.
Final decision
- We will not start an investigation because this is a late complaint and because Mr X could have appealed to the tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman