Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Penalty Charge Notices and the actions of enforcement agents. The complaint is late with no good reason for us to now investigate. It is also unlikely an investigation by us would find fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about historic enforcement action by the Council relating to Penalty Charge Notices (PCN) over a period of five years.

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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:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(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. Mr X’s complaint is made late to us, that is, not within a year of him knowing about the historic enforcement issues spanning a five-year period. Mr X complained to us in May 2026. The restriction in paragraph three therefore applies. We will not investigate as I consider it is reasonable to expect Mr X to have complained to us sooner.
8. But even if we decided Mr X’s complaint was not late, or that we should treat some of it as on-time, we would not investigate. Following Mr X’s complaint, the Council considered all the evidence Mr X provided about the PCNs and contacted its enforcement agents. But, it found no record of it issuing any PCNs for the vehicle registration that Mr X provided. Rather, it said the offences referred to in Mr X’s complaint took place outside of its area so it had no power to investigate them. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to justify investigating. Given the Council has not issued any of the PCNs, there is also no worthwhile outcome achievable by an investigation.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint about Penalty Charge Notices and the actions of the Council’s enforcement agents. The complaint is late with no good reason for us to now investigate. It is also unlikely an investigation by us would find fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman