Transport for London (26 013 538)
Category : Transport and highways > Parking and other penalties
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 17 Aug 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate a complaint about London Tribunals because we have no legal power to investigate its actions. Nor will we investigate a complaint about the enforcement of a Penalty Charge Notice. 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
- X says the Authority failed to follow the correct procedure for a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) because they unreasonably dismissed their mitigating circumstances. They say the matter has wrongly progressed through the enforcement procedure and now they are concerned about enforcement charges.
- X also complained that London Tribunals was also at fault in the information it provided to him.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes limits on what we can investigate.
- We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. We cannot investigate the actions of bodies such as London Tribunals. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34(1), as amended)
- 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)
- 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.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information from the complainant and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate a complaint about London Tribunals because we have no legal power to investigate its actions. And we will not investigate a complaint about a PCN, because it is reasonable to expect the complainant to apply to the Traffic Enforcement Centre to regain their appeal rights and may then appeal if the TEC agrees.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman