Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the enforcement of a Penalty Charge Notice. The complaint is late and it is reasonable to expect the complainant to apply to the Traffic Enforcement Centre to seek to regain their appeal rights, and then to appeal to a tribunal.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains about the way in which the Council has dealt with enforcement of a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN), despite her repeated attempts to resolve the matter while overseas. Ms X says she have been unable to pay and the Council fails to acknowledge its part in causing the issues she has experienced. She believes the current enforcement charges are disproportionate and she wants the Council to reduce the PCN charge to the original amount.

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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 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 cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court or use 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 go to court or appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(6)(a) and (c), as amended)
5. London Tribunals considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for London, and the Traffic Penalty Tribunal for the rest of England. The Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC), part of the county court, considers applications to set the PCN process back where there has been procedural fault.

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. The Council issued the PCN Ms X refers to in September 2023. The Council rejected Ms X’s representations challenging the PCN shortly after. The Council explained it had given Ms X further opportunities to pay the PCN at the original reduced rate as late as October 2024, more than 12 months after the PCN was issued. The Council referred the case to its enforcement agent in October 2025 after the PCN remained unpaid. The Council has also since suspended enforcement action while Ms X either made an out of time statutory declaration to TEC or arrangements to pay the outstanding debt with enforcement agents.
8. We expect people to complain to us within 12 month of the events they are complaining about. I have considered whether there are grounds to exercise discretion to investigate her complaint but have found no good reasons to do so. Ms X has been aware of this issue for a number of years before submitting her complaint to us in July 2026.
9. I also consider we are unlikely to achieve the outcome Ms X is seeking. Ms X has a right to submit a late witness statement to the TEC, asking it to remove the charge certificate for the PCN. If the TEC accepts Ms X’s application, it can take the process back to an earlier stage, reducing the amount of the PCN charge and reinstating Ms X’s right of appeal to the London Tribunals. Ms X can then decide if she wishes to appeal or pay the penalty. I consider there are no good reasons why Ms X could not use her statutory rights in this way. We will therefore not investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate this complaint because it is late. It is also reasonable to expect the complainant to apply to the Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC) to regain their appeal rights and then appeal to the London Tribunals if the TEC agrees.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman