Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a penalty charge notice and the way the Council approached road sign placement. This is because it is reasonable to expect Mr X to use his right of appeal to London Tribunals. Additionally, there is not enough significant personal injustice to justify investigating a complaint about road sign placement.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained that he, and potentially others, received a penalty charge notice (PCN) for a parking contravention.
2. Mr X also complained that road signage was confusing, and no effort was made to cover previous signs.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has 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 use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
4. 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 (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mr X complained that he received a PCN as a result of inadequate road signage. London Tribunals considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for London.
8. Mr X can use his right of appeal to London Tribunals, and I have seen nothing to show it would be unreasonable to expect Mr X to use this process. Therefore, we will not investigate a complaint about that aspect.
9. Mr X was also unhappy with the way the Council approached the sign placement and said this affected other persons, for which he is waiting for a reply from the Council about. We will not investigate this as it has not caused him a personal injustice.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is reasonable to expect Mr X to use his right of appeal to London Tribunals. Additionally, there is not enough personal significant injustice to justify investigating.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman