Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about a penalty charge notice and the Council's handling of Mr X’s request for further information about the penalty charge notice. This is because Mr X has used his right of appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal and we therefore retain no discretion to investigate the issues he has complained about.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about a penalty charge notice (PCN) issued by the Council for a bus lane contravention. He says he contacted the Council for more information about the location of the contravention but it responded with a ‘notice of rejection’ setting out the reasons it would not cancel the PCN. Mr X appealed to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal (TPT) but is unhappy with the handling of his appeal.
2. Mr X is upset the Council increased the amount of the PCN from £35 to £105 following his unsuccessful appeal. He wants the Council to cancel the PCN and pay him compensation.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
4. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
5. 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. We may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right but cannot investigate if they have already done so. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
6. The Traffic Penalty Tribunal considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for all areas of England outside London.

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
8. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

9. Because Mr X has appealed to the TPT we cannot investigate any complaint about the validity of the PCN or the Council’s handling of his request for further information about it, which it treated as formal representations against the PCN.
10. Mr X is also concerned about the Council’s escalation of the PCN but I have seen no evidence of fault on this point. The amount of the original PCN was £70, reduced to £35 if paid within 21 days. Mr X did not pay the PCN within 21 days- rather he questioned the location with the Council and later appealed- and his appeal was unsuccessful. He still did not pay, so the Council escalated the case and issued a charge certificate, increasing the amount owed to £105.
11. Mr X wrote to the Council confirming he would not pay, so once the time limit for payment had passed the Council was entitled to register the case with the Traffic Enforcement Centre at Northampton County Court and instruct enforcement agents (bailiffs) to recover payment from him. Its actions were in line with the statutory process and we cannot consider either the validity of the PCN or the Council’s response to his enquiry about it for the reasons set out above.

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Final decision

12. We cannot investigate this complaint. This is because Mr X has used his right of appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman