Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a penalty charge notice issued by the Council. This is because Ms X has or had alternative remedies for the points she complains about, which it would be reasonable for her to use.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains about a penalty charge notice (PCN) issued by the Council. She disputes the contravention and says the Council ignored her appeals. She says this caused her stress and she wants the Council to cancel the PCN and apologise.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. 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)
4. London Tribunals considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for London.
5. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
6. The Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC) is part of Northampton County Court. It considers applications from local authorities to pursue payment of unpaid PCNs and from motorists to challenge local authorities’ pursuit of unpaid PCNs.

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

9. It is clear Ms X disputes the PCN and does not agree she committed a contravention. But in this situation it would have been reasonable for Ms X to make representations against the PCN to the Council and then appeal to London Tribunals.
10. Ms X says the Council ignored her appeals but I have seen no evidence to show she tried to make representations or appeal under the statutory process. The Council confirms it received correspondence against the PCN from a third party but only the registered keeper (Ms X) may make representations. It therefore wrote to the third party to explain the situation but heard nothing further.
11. If Ms X submitted representations of her own, or if she believes the Council was wrong to refuse to consider the representations made by the third party, she may apply to the TEC to make a late witness statement. If the TEC accepts Ms X’s application it may order the Council to take the process back to an earlier stage, reinstating her right of appeal and potentially referring the matter to London Tribunals directly. If the TEC refuses Ms X’s application she may apply for a review of its decision.
12. I have seen nothing to show it would have been unreasonable for Ms X to use this process and I will not therefore exercise my discretion to investigate the complaint.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because it would have been reasonable for Ms X to appeal against the PCN to London Tribunals. In the event the Council failed to respond to Ms X’s representations, preventing her from appealing to London Tribunals, it would have been reasonable for her to apply to the TEC to reinstate her right of appeal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman