Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about a Penalty Charge Notice because the complainant has used the statutory representations and appeals procedure.

The complaint

1. Mr X says the Council has wrongly issued a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) for an alleged traffic contravention. The Council issued Mr X with a PCN for parking on a road that was subject to restrictions during school hours. The restrictions were not in effect when he parked but were by the time he left. Mr X says the signage was not easy to see. Mr X wants the Council to cancel the PCN.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes limits on what we can investigate.
3. We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal about the same matter. We also cannot investigate a complaint if in doing so we would overlap with the role of a tribunal to decide something which has been or could have been referred to it to resolve using its own powers. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
4. London Tribunals considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for London, and the Traffic Penalty Tribunal for the rest of England.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information from the complainant and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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Final decision

6. We cannot investigate this complaint because the complainant has already appealed the matter and to do so would risk us overlapping the role of the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman