Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about a Penalty Charge Notice. It would be reasonable to expect Mr X to complete the statutory representations and appeals procedure.

The complaint

1. Mr X say the Council has failed to follow its procedures when enforcing collecting a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN). It failed to make reasonable adjustments for his disability. Mr X also says the Council failed to properly investigate allegations made against the enforcement agents. Mr X says that as a result of this he experienced financial loss and distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes limits on what we can investigate.
3. 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. If the person has already appealed we have no power to investigate. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
4. London Tribunals considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for London, and the Traffic Penalty Tribunal (TPT) for the rest of England.
5. 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 we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)).

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information from Mr X and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

My assessment

8. When a council issues a PCN the motorist has 28 days to pay the penalty charge or appeal; appeals at this stage are known as informal challenges. If the Council decides not to accept an informal challenge, the motorist can make formal representations against the PCN. If the council rejects the motorist’s formal representations the motorist may appeal to TPT.
9. After the Council rejected his representations Mr X would have been made aware of his right to appeal to the TPT. The TPT can make decisions about whether the PCN would be upheld or cancelled, which we the Ombudsman are unable to do. It is reasonable to expect Mr X to appeal to the TPT in this case.
10. We will not investigate how the Council dealt with Mr X’s complaint about allegations against enforcement agents as we would not be able to add anything to the investigation carried out by the Council.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about a Penalty Charge Notice. It would be reasonable to expect Mr X to complete the statutory representations and appeals procedure.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman