Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint the Council’s handling of a Penalty Charge Notice connected to a vehicle he owns. The Council and the Enforcement Agent acting on its behalf has already taken appropriate action to address the injustice caused to Mr X. Further investigation by us would achieve nothing more.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains an Enforcement Agent acting for the Council clamped his vehicle for a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) that was issued before he owned the vehicle. He believes the Council should have done more to establish ownership to avoid the embarrassment and distress caused to him by a tow truck and police attending his premises. Mr X is also unhappy with how the Council dealt with his complaint and believes it failed to recognise the stress and impact on him.

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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 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:

• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, 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

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Enforcement Agent has apologised to Mr X and issued a refund for the fee it charged to release the clamp from his vehicle. It has also reimbursed Mr X’s costs in having the vehicle professionally cleaned.
6. The Council has also apologised to Mr X for the difficulties he has experienced and the impact of its delay in responding to his complaint. The Council has offered Mr X a further small payment to remedy the injustice caused.
7. We will not investigate because there is nothing more we could achieve by doing so. While I recognise Mr X remains dissatisfied, we do not investigate every complaint made to us. In this case, we could not meaningfully add to the action the Council and Enforcement Agent have taken.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because further investigation by us would achieve nothing more.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman