Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (26 008 198)
Category : Transport and highways > Parking and other penalties
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 08 Jul 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate how the Council considered Ms X’s representations against a parking penalty charge notice as since Ms X appealed to the independent tribunal, this matter is no longer within our remit. It would not be a good use of our limited resources to investigate how the Council dealt with Ms X’s subsequent complaint.
The complaint
- Ms X complains about the Council’s handling of her representations against a parking penalty charge (PCN) it issued to her and the subsequent complaint she made to it. Ms X complains the Council failed to properly and transparently consider the disability related concerns she raised. Ms X says this caused her stress, anxiety and financial pressure.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal or a government minister or started court action about the matter. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6), as amended)
- The courts have said we can decide not to investigate a complaint about any action by an organisation concerning a matter which the law says we cannot investigate. (R (on the application of M) v Commissioner for Local Administration [2006] EHWCC 2847 (Admin))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Ms X appealed against the PCN to London Tribunals. This means we no longer have any legal remit to investigate the PCN and this includes how the Council considered Ms X’s representations against it.
- We will not investigate the Council’s handling of the complaint as a separate matter as it would not be a good use of our limited resources and it is unlikely we could, in any case, consider this without straying into matters no longer within our remit.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint because she appealed the PCN to London Tribunals. We will not investigate the Council’s complaint handling as a separate matter as it would not be a good use of our limited resources.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman