London Borough of Islington (25 020 127)
Category : Transport and highways > Parking and other penalties
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 17 Mar 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of a penalty charge notice. This is because the Council has agreed to cancel the penalty charge notice and it is unlikely investigation would achieve anything more for Mr X.
The complaint
- Mr X complains the Council denied him his right of appeal against a penalty charge notice (PCN). He says he made representations against the PCN but did not receive a notice of rejection so could not appeal to London Tribunals. He says this caused him stress and anxiety and disrupted his daily life.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The Council maintains it acted properly in issuing the PCN and handling the representations made against it. It declined to deal with the representations because they were signed off by a third party and despite contacting Mr X directly to inform him of this, he did not make any of his own representations against the PCN at the relevant time.
- The Council has however accepted that Mr X intended to challenge the PCN and it has therefore exercised its discretion to cancel it. This is the most Mr X could have hoped for from the statutory appeals process and I am satisfied it provides a suitable remedy for the complaint.
Final decision
- We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the Council’s cancellation of the PCN provides a suitable remedy for Mr X and it is unlikey we would recommend anything more.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman