Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to respond to Mr X’s representations against a penalty charge notice. This is because it would be reasonable for Mr X to wait for the Council to register the unpaid penalty charge notice with the Traffic Enforcement Centre at Northampton County Court and apply to the court to take the process back to an earlier stage.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council failed to respond to his representations against a penalty charge notice (PCN) and has now escalated the case and increased the amount of the penalty charge.

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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 Mr X and the Council.
8. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

9. There is a set procedure councils must follow when pursuing PCNs for moving traffic contraventions. When a council identifies a contravention it will issue a PCN to the owner/registered keeper by post. This will detail the amount of the fine and the motorist’s right of appeal, firstly to the council itself and then to a Tribunal.
10. The motorist has 28 days from the date of the notice to pay the penalty charge or make representations against it.
11. If the motorist does not pay the PCN or challenge it, or if their representations are unsuccessful, the council may issue a charge certificate increasing the amount of the penalty charge by 50%. If the charge remains unpaid the council may then register the debt with the county court and serve an order for recovery, providing a basis for action by enforcement agents (bailiffs) to recover payment from the motorist.
12. The Council has provided a copy of its response to Mr X’s representations although I understand Mr X did not receive this. In this case he may wait for the Council to register the case with the TEC and apply to the to make a statutory declaration. If the TEC accepts Mr X’s application it will order the Council to take the process back to an earlier stage, reinstating Mr X’s right of appeal. The restriction at Paragraph 3 would then apply. If it refuses Mr X’s application he may apply for a review of the decision.
13. Mr X confirms the Council has advised him of this process and while he is concerned about the possibility of the case being registered at court, registration would be administrative rather than a formal court ruling so it would not result in a ‘county court judgement’. It would therefore be reasonable to expect Mr X to wait for the Council to register the case with the TEC and make a statutory declaration under the process set out above.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because it would be reasonable for Mr X to wait for the Council to register the unpaid PCN with the TEC and make a statutory declaration.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman