Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a Penalty Charge Notice because Mr Y has already approached the court about the same matter or the issues could reasonably be mentioned as part of legal proceedings.

The complaint

1. Mr Y complained the Council failed to follow the Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) process properly, failed to consider his representations and progressed to the enforcement stage despite ongoing correspondence with the Traffic Enforcement Centre.
2. Mr Y also feels the enforcement of the PCN was disproportionate as he had paid for parking, but had mistyped the registration number for the ticket. Mr Y says the issue caused frustration and distress and led to him paying more than £400 to bailiffs which he feels was unfair and unnecessary.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has started court action about the matter. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
5. 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)
6. We have the power to start or end an investigation into a complaint about actions the law allows us to investigate. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we think the issues could reasonably be, or have been mentioned as part of the legal proceedings regarding a closely related matter. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered information Mr Y and the Council provided and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Mr Y has complained the Council failed to follow the statutory PCN process correctly, has failed to consider his representations and wrongly continued to the enforcement stage. He has already approach the Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC) and completed a late statutory declaration about the issue. These issues have or reasonably could have been raised with the TEC. The TEC is based at Northampton County Court, and so Mr Y has started court proceedings on the matter that he has complained about. Consequently, we do not have the power to investigate his complaint.
9. Mr Y may also wish to raise some of the issues he has complained about with us if he decides to appeal the PCN to the London Tribunals. This is often free in the initial stages and reasonable adjustments can be made where necessary for access to the service. Consequently, as Mr Y has not provided any other reason why he cannot, it is reasonable to expect Mr Y to use his right to appeal if the TEC approves his application. Therefore, we will not investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr Y’s complaint because Mr Y has already approached the court about the same matter or the issues could reasonably be mentioned as part of legal proceedings.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman