Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of a penalty charge notice. This is because Miss X has used the alternative remedies available to her to challenge the Council’s escalation of the case and the penalty charge notice itself. We therefore no longer have any jurisdiction in this matter and cannot provide a remedy for the injustice Miss X claims.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council failed to respond to her representations against a penalty charge notice (PCN). She applied to the Traffic Enforcement Centre to challenge the Council’s escalation of the PCN, which took the process back to an earlier stage, and made representations against the PCN again. She is unhappy the Council refused to cancel the PCN so she appealed to London Tribunals. The Council then informed London Tribunals it would not pursue the case. Miss X says the Council’s actions increased her anxiety and paranoia and caused her emotional and financial harm.

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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 could take the matter to court. We may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court but cannot investigate if they have already been to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
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. 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. We may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right but cannot investigate if they have already used it. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
6. London Tribunals considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for London.

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered information provided by Miss X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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Final decision

8. We cannot investigate this complaint. This is because Miss X has applied to the TEC to challenge the Council’s escalation of the case and appealed to London Tribunals against the PCN itself. The exclusions set out at Paragraphs 3 and 5 therefore apply.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman