Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council handles parking enforcement where the complainant lives. It is reasonable to expect the complainant to have used her right of appeal to London Tribunals to challenge the outstanding penalty charge notice, and any residual injustice caused by other alleged faults is not significant enough to justify our continued involvement.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council failed to properly acknowledge her complaint about systematic inconsistency, poor communication and unfair treatment in the way parking enforcement is implemented where she lives.
2. In particular, Miss X says the Council cancelled some penalty charge notices (PCNs) she received, but failed to cancel a third one. In that case, she says the enforcement officer initially issued the PCN, then removed it from the vehicle when Miss X explained the situation, but did not cancel it on the system.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. We can 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. So, we do not start an investigation if we decide:

• any alleged fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

5. The law also 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)
6. London Tribunals considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for London.
7. Finally, it is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

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How I considered this complaint

8. I considered:
• information provided by Miss X.
• the Council’s response to our enquiries.
• the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

9. In response to our enquiries, the Council has explained that as a gesture of good will, it cancelled two PCN’s Miss X received, and effectively consolidated them into the remaining third PCN. Miss X then had the opportunity to either pay the penalty charge at the discounted rate, or appeal to London Tribunals. It also confirms there is no body-cam footage of the third PCN being issued, as this is only activated if an officer requires it in case of an altercation.
10. And in terms of the Council’s approach to parking enforcement in the area, it says action is taken where a vehicle is observed with no valid permit displayed. From May 2025, 31 PCNs have been issued on Miss X’s road. It says this demonstrates there is ongoing enforcement in the area.
11. Whilst I appreciate Miss X might have wider concerns about how the Council implements parking enforcement, the restriction detailed in paragraphs 5 and 6 above would still apply to her complaint. This is because if Miss X wanted to continue to challenge the third PCN, it is reasonable to expect her to have used her right of appeal to London Tribunals. The Ombudsman will therefore not investigate her complaint.
12. Any remaining injustice to Miss X, for example as a result of the alleged poor communication, would not be significant enough to justify the Ombudsman pursuing it in isolation. Similarly, it would not be a good use of our resources to look at the Council’s complaint handling in isolation, where we are not investigating Miss X’s underlying concerns about the PCN’s.
13. If other residents have been subject to parking enforcement action, we would normally recommend they utilise the statutory appeal process, where applicable. They may also submit their own complaint to the Council.
14. Miss X can also report any parking contraventions she observes to the Council, either on its website or by calling the parking enforcement team. However, it is important to note that limited resources may mean it cannot attend every alleged contravention.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint primarily because it is reasonable to expect her to have used her right of appeal to a tribunal. Any residual injustice caused by other alleged faults is not significant enough to justify our continued involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman