The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about a Penalty Charge Notice. This is because Mr Y has already appealed to the Traffic Enforcement Centre.
The complaint
Mr Y complains the Council wrongly issued him with a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) and has refused his appeal. Mr Y says he lives in Wales and he has not been to London in his van. He has reported his van number plates as being cloned to police but the Council has not accepted this in his appeal.
Mr Y says he is frustrated because of the fine and does not want to pay it when he considers it to be fraudulent.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
The courts have said that where someone has used their right of appeal, reference or review or remedy by way of proceedings in any court of law, the Ombudsman has no jurisdiction to investigate. This is the case even if the appeal did not or could not provide a complete remedy for all the injustice claimed. (R v The Commissioner for Local Administration ex parte PH (1999) EHCA Civ 916)
How I considered this complaint
I considered the information Mr Y provided and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council issued a PCN to Mr Y in August 2020. Mr Y appealed this with the Council saying he had not been in the area as he lives in Wales. He also contacted police to say he believed his car number plates had been cloned and provided the crime reference to the Council. The Council did not accept Mr Y’s appeal and referred him to the Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC) based at Northampton County Court if he wanted to appeal.
Mr Y appealed in August 2021. He has told us that his appeal was unsuccessful, and the TEC upheld the PCN. As Mr Y has used his right to appeal to the TEC, we cannot investigate his complaint.
Final decision
We cannot investigate Mr Y’s complaint because he has already appealed to the Traffic Enforcement Centre.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman