The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint that the Council wrongly issued him with a Penalty Charge Notice for an alleged parking contravention. This is because it was reasonable for Mr B to appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.
The complaint
The complainant, who I will refer to as Mr B, complains that the Council wrongly issued him with a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) for an alleged parking contravention. Mr B says the parking restriction was not clearly signed. Mr B would like the Council to refund the £35 he paid to cancel the charge.
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 Act says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a tribunal. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended) The Traffic Penalty Tribunal considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for all areas of England outside London.
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr B.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The recipient of a PCN has the option of either paying the charge or challenging the Notice by appealing to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.
Rather than pay the charge, Mr B could have put in an appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal to challenge the PCN. Mr B could have relied on the statutory ground that the contravention did not occur because the restriction was not clearly signed.
I find it was reasonable for Mr B to do this. The Tribunal would have considered whether there was sufficient signage to alert motorists to the parking restriction. The Tribunal also has the power to cancel the PCN.
So, we will not investigate Mr B’s complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because it was reasonable for him to appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman