Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the enforcement of a Penalty Charge Notice. It would have been reasonable to expect the complainant to appeal to London Tribunals.

The complaint

1. Ms Y says the Council failed to follow the correct procedure for a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN). Ms Y says the matter has wrongly progressed through the enforcement procedure. Ms Y also says that the Council did not reply to her complaint.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes limits on what we can investigate.
3. We cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court or use 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 go to court or appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(6)(a) and (c), as amended)
4. London Tribunals considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for London, and the Traffic Penalty Tribunal for the rest of England. The Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC), part of the county court, considers applications to set the PCN process back where there has been procedural fault.

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. Ms Y also complained to The Enforcement Conduct Board who are considering her complaint about the enforcement agents. We therefore will not consider the conduct of the enforcement agents as part of this complaint.
8. After Ms Y had received the PCN she Ms Y made a witness statement to the TEC and the PCN reverted to an earlier stage. Ms Y was given the opportunity to make representations to the Council.
9. The Council rejected Ms Y’s representations. At this point Ms Y had a right to appeal to London Tribunals. It would have been reasonable for Ms Y to exercise her right to appeal.
10. I will not investigate the matter of complaint handling as it is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint handling when we are not looking at the substantive issue.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate this complaint about the enforcement of a Penalty Charge Notice because it would have been reasonable to expect the complainant to appeal to London Tribunals.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman