The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a penalty charge notice. This is because the Council has refunded Mr X the money he paid and there is insufficient remaining injustice to him to warrant our involvement.
The complaint
Mr X complains the Council wrongly issued him with a penalty charge notice (PCN) for a parking contravention. Mr X says he did not appeal as the Council gave him incorrect information about the parking restrictions. Mr X paid the PCN and now seeks a refund. Mr X also seeks clarification from the Council about where he can park.
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 information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council has refunded Mr X with the money he paid for the PCN, as a gesture of goodwill. It has reiterated that Mr X’s van is classed as a goods vehicle under its Traffic Regulation Order and should not therefore be parked in bays designated for cars and motorcycles only.
We will not investigate as there is insufficient remaining injustice caused to Mr X to warrant our involvement. Should Mr X receive another PCN that he wishes to challenge, we would expect him to do this via an appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient remaining injustice caused to him to warrant our involvement.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman