Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about moving traffic penalty charge notices as part of the complaint is made late and there are not good reasons to investigate now. There is insufficient remaining injustice from the other part of the complaint to justify our further involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council wrongly issued him with five moving traffic penalty charge notices (PCNs) despite him holding a permit to drive through the area in question. Mr X says he was put to time and trouble because of this and while the PCNs were cancelled, Mr X remains unhappy and seeks a financial payment to recognise the impact on him.

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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. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. 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 any fault has not caused significant injustice to the person who complained (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. The first four PCNs Mr X complains about were issued to him in late 2023/early 2024 and Mr X knew the Council had cancelled them by March 2024. Mr X did not complain to us about these matters until March 2026. As Mr X did not complain to us within a year of him knowing about the problem, this complaint is made late. Mr X has provided no reason for the delay in complaining and I consider it is reasonable to expect him to have done so sooner, and within one year. I do not therefore consider there are good reasons for us to investigate now.
8. The Council issued Mr X with a further PCN in October 2025, which it cancelled soon after. The Council apologised to Mr X for the inconvenience caused to him and said the underlying system fault had been identified and rectified.
9. I recognise Mr X remains unhappy, but I do not consider there is sufficient remaining injustice caused to him to justify our further involvement.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there are not good reasons to investigate the late complaint now, and there is insufficient remaining injustice caused to him from the other aspect of his complaint to warrant our further involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman