Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about Penalty Charge Notices for alleged traffic contraventions. It would be reasonable to have expected Miss X to have used the statutory representations and appeals procedure. In any case, further investigation by the Ombudsman would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council did not properly consider her circumstances when it progressed Penalty Charge Notices (PCN) through the statutory procedure. Miss X said she told it about her vulnerability and it continued to progress the PCNs.
2. Miss X said this caused significant distress and a negative impact to her mental health.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. 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. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
5. London Tribunals considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for London.
6. 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

7. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
8. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

9. Miss X received several PCNs for alleged moving traffic contraventions. She said the Council continued to progress the PCNs despite telling it about her difficult circumstances. Miss X said she was concerned about how the Council considered its Equality Act duties.
10. In its complaint response, the Council said Miss X made representations about her vulnerability after the statutory representations period had ended. However, it set all the PCNs back to an earlier stage to allow her to pay a reduced amount or use the statutory representations procedure.
11. While Miss X raised wider concerns about how the Council considered its Equality Act duties, any injustice caused here is by the PCNs. Therefore, the appropriate route for Miss X to follow would be to have used the statutory representations and appeal procedures. As outlined in paragraph four, the law says we cannot investigate where a person has a right of appeal to a tribunal.
12. In any case, the Council set the PCNs back to an earlier stage after considering Miss X’s circumstances. An investigation by the Ombudsman would not achieve anything further.
13. For these reasons, we will not investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it would be reasonable to have expected Miss X to have used the statutory representations and appeals procedure and further investigation by the Ombudsman would not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman