Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about a Penalty Charge Notice. This is because Miss X used her right to apply to the Traffic Enforcement Centre. This places the matter outside our jurisdiction.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained about a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) issued by Transport for London (TfL) after she incorrectly dated a payment for using the Blackwell Tunnel. Miss X says TfL did not respond to her and wants it to cancel the original PCN and the extra costs from enforcement action which are now being charged.

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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 courts have said that where someone has sought a remedy by way of proceedings in any court of law, we cannot investigate. This is the case even if the appeal did not or could not provide a complete remedy for all the injustice claimed. (R v The Commissioner for Local Administration ex parte PH (1999) EHCA Civ 916)
4. 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.
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 further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (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 provided by the complainant and the Authority.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. When a Council issues a PCN the motorist has 28 days to pay the penalty charge or appeal. If the motorist does not pay or make formal representations, the Council will issue a charge certificate and may then apply to the TEC to register the debt. The Council may then instruct enforcement agents to recover the debt.
9. Where a motorist makes representations against a PCN but does not receive a response, they may apply to the TEC to make a late witness statement / statutory declaration. The TEC has the power to order the issuing authority to take the process back to an earlier stage, reinstating the right of appeal against the PCN and reducing the amount owed.
10. We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint. This is because Miss X submitted an out of time witness statement to the TEC about the decision to issue the PCN. This means the exclusion at paragraph 3 applies and we have no powers to consider her complaint.
11. In response to our enquiries TfL said the TEC had accepted the witness statement. TfL said the original PCN had potentially been sent to Miss X’s old address. While the Authority said it was due to reissue the PCN it agreed to cancel this to the bring the matter to a close. That is the outcome Miss X wanted. So, even if the complaint was within our jurisdiction, investigation could not achieve anything more.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because she has taken the matter to court. This places the matter outside our jurisdiction.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman