Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the actions of Enforcement Agents acting on behalf of the Council, to recover a debt for an unpaid Penalty Charge Notice. This is because it is late and there are no reasons the complaint could not have been made sooner. It is also unlikely that further investigation would find evidence of fault.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains on behalf of her husband, Mr X. She says Enforcement Agents acting for the Council unlawfully clamped her vehicle and demanded payment without a warrant or authority to enforce the unpaid Penalty Charge Notice (PCN). She wants a full refund of the enforcement fees, acknowledgment enforcement was wrong, and Council accountability.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. Where an individual, organisation or private company is providing services on behalf of a council, we can investigate complaints about the actions of these providers. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(1)(A) and 25(7), as amended).

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. The Council issued a PCN to Mr X as the registered keeper of the vehicle in May 2023. After rejecting Mr X’s challenge against the PCN and the debt remaining unpaid, the Council obtained a warrant from the Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC) (part of Northampton County Court) and passed it to Enforcement Agents at the end of January 2024. Enforcement Agents attended Mr and Mrs X’s home to enforce the warrant in August 2024 as it had only received three small payments towards the debt.
7. We usually expect people to complain to us within 12 months of the events they are complaining about. Mr and Mrs X have been aware of this matter since 2023 and the issues surrounding the recovery of debt since 2024. I have seen no evidence to suggest Mr and Mrs X could not have brought this complaint to us sooner, so I will not exercise discretion to investigate it now. The Council has provided us with a copy of the warrant it obtained from TEC, so it is unlikely we would uphold Mrs X’s complaint that the Enforcement Agents acted without a valid warrant.

Final decision

8. We will not investigate this complaint because it is late and further investigation is unlikely to find evidence of fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman