The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a Penalty Charge Notice. This is because there is not significant enough injustice to justify our involvement.
The complaint
Mr Y complains the Council wrongly issued him with a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) and did not respond to his appeal. Miss X, Mr Y’s daughter says this has caused her father upset and increased stress.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered the information Miss X provided and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council issued a PCN to Mr Y in September 2021. Mr Y appealed the PCN online. Miss X says no response was received from the Council. She then telephoned the Council and was told that the PCN had been cancelled in December 2021. Miss X complained to the Council on her father’s behalf as he had not received a response to his appeal.
The Council responded in December, confirming the PCN had been waived on appeal and referring Mr Y to us.
Analysis Miss X says Mr Y was caused upset and increased levels of stress when he received the PCN, particularly as he has heart problems. While Miss X feels strongly about the issue and Mr Y may have been upset by the PCN, Mr Y was able to successful appeal the PCN with the Council.
Any upset caused in the Council issuing the PCN and the subsequent appeal is not significant enough to justify our involvement. Consequently, we will not investigate this complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr Y’s complaint because there is not significant enough injustice to justify our involvement.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman