Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Penalty Charge Notices. This is because the Authority has cancelled the notices so there is no worthwhile outcome. Any injustice caused by enforcement officers is not significant enough to justify our further involvement.

The complaint

1. X complains that the Authority incorrectly issued them with four Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) and that enforcement officers threatened to remove their goods.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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:

• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, 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

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

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My assessment

5. The Authority concluded the PCNs were issued correctly and had progressed through the statutory process. However, following its review and the further information submitted by X, the Authority exercised discretion to cancel all four PCNs and stop enforcement action.
6. We will not investigate X’s complaint about the issuing of the PCNs. There is no worthwhile outcome in doing so because the PCNs have been cancelled.
7. Whilst I do note that it may have caused some distress for X to have been told that goods may be seized if payment of the PCNs was not made, I do not consider that this alone has caused X a significant enough injustice to warrant our further involvement.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate X’s complaint because there is no worthwhile outcome or significant injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman