Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council issuing penalty charge notices wrongly. The Council has agreed to put matters right.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council wrongly issued at least 16 penalty charge notices (PCNs) from July 2025 to January 2026. This was despite Mrs X having a valid exemption from the traffic restriction. Mrs X says this caused her significant anxiety and she had to spend considerable time repeatedly challenging the PCNs. This was while she was already under pressure from caring for her disabled child.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and s34H(1), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. If we investigated this complaint it is likely we would find the Council at fault because it accepts it was at fault for repeatedly issuing PCNs to Mrs X despite her having a valid exemption.
7. To resolve the complaint early we therefore asked the Council to consider remedying the injustice caused by its actions by:
1. increasing the payment it had already offered Mrs X, from £200 to £500. This figure is in line with our Guidance on Remedies. It reflects the level of worry, frustration and inconvenience Mrs X experienced. It also takes into account that time Mrs X should have been able to use as respite from her caring responsibilities was spent repeatedly having to challenge PCNs.
2. considering whether any procedural or system change is required to ensure that when a PCN problem recurs, as happened here, the Council promptly and properly investigates and resolves the underlying cause.

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Agreed action

8. To its credit the Council agreed to resolve the complaint. To put things right it will complete point a) above within one month of today and point b) above within three months of today.

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Final decision

9. We have upheld this complaint because the Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused to Mrs X and considering whether it needs to improve its service for others.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman