Newcastle upon Tyne City Council (25 025 123)
Category : Transport and highways > Parking and other penalties
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 17 May 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about Penalty Charge Notices. It would be reasonable to expect Miss X to use the statutory representations and appeals procedure.
The complaint
- Miss X says the Council not properly consider her representations about Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) she received.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes limits on what we can investigate.
- 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)
- London Tribunals considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for London, and the Traffic Penalty Tribunal (TPT) for the rest of England.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information from Miss X and the Council
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- 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.
- If the motorist does not pay or make formal representations the council will issue a charge certificate, increasing the amount payable by 50%. It may then apply to the TEC to register the debt, before instructing enforcement agents bailiffs to recover it.
- It would be reasonable for Miss X to appeal to the TPT using the process set out above after the Council rejected her representations. The tribunal could consider her extenuating circumstances in regard to the PCNs.
Final decision
- We will not investigate this complaint because it would be reasonable for Miss X to use the representations and appeals procedure.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman