Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to Mr X about his penalty charge notice. This is because the complaint is late and there are no good reasons for us to investigate.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council failed to properly serve him with a penalty charge notice (PCN), by not sending him the first notice. Mr X says he only became aware at a later enforcement stage when he paid in full.
2. Mr X says he was denied the opportunity to challenge the PCN or pay at the discounted rate.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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 an investigation if we decide:

• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organization.

(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 and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. The Council responded to Mr X’s complaint refusing to investigate. It said that as he had paid in full there were no opportunities to revisit the matter.

8. We also will not investigate. This is because Mr X’s PCN was issued in 2022 and he complained to us in 2026. The time bar in our jurisdiction, outlined in paragraph 3, applies to his complaint. Mr X has allowed four years to elapse, so his complaint is late.
9. I see no good reason why he could not have complained to us within 12 months of becoming aware of the matter. Mr X was aware of the issue at the time, including the financial impact of paying the charge, and could have approached the Ombudsman sooner.
10. However, even if I exercised the Ombudsman’s discretionary powers to investigate, it is unlikely we could add to the Council’s response. Under the statutory parking appeals process - that we normally expect complainants to make use of - there is no facility to pay and then also appeal.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because the complaint is late and there are no good reasons to investigate.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman