Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of a penalty charge notice. The injustice to Mr X is not significant enough to justify us investigating.

The complaint

1. Mr X says he received an empty penalty charge notice (PCN) envelope, with no details of the charge inside. He says this meant he had to spend time contacting the Council to find out about the charge and how to appeal.
2. Mr X complained to the Council but is unhappy with its response. He says it did not properly review body-worn camera footage. He wants an apology, information about service improvements, and a remedy for his time and trouble.

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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 impact 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 or continue an investigation if we decide any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mr X.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. I recognise Mr X incurred some inconvenience in contacting the Council about the PCN. However, Mr X was able to obtain information about the PCN the next working day. Therefore, I do not consider the injustice to Mr X significant enough to justify us investigating.
7. An investigation by us is also unlikely to establish why the PCN details were not in the envelope. In any event, if Mr X believed the Council improperly issued the PCN then he could have appealed the PCN. He did not do so, as he does not dispute the PCN and has paid it.
8. Mr X also complains about the Council’s handling of his complaint. As we are not investigating the substantive issue, it would not be a good use of public resources to consider complaint handling in isolation. In any event, there is not enough evidence of fault in how the Council dealt with his complaint. I am satisfied it appropriately responded to his concerns, including any potential discrepancies about what occurred in the body-worn camera footage.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the injustice to him is not significant enough to justify us investigating.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman