The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of a penalty charge notice for a parking contravention. This is because it would be reasonable for Mr X to apply to the Traffic Enforcement Centre to challenge the Council’s escalation of the case and would have been reasonable for him to appeal to London Tribunals to challenge the penalty charge notice itself.
The complaint
The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council failed to properly consider his challenge to a penalty charge notice (PCN). He also complains the Council is pursuing him for payment of the PCN despite having already paid the penalty 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 law 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) London Tribunals considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for London.
The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
If Mr X was unhappy with the Council’s response to his representations against the PCN then it would have been reasonable for him to appeal.
Mr X also has the option to apply to the Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC) at Northampton County Court to challenge the Council’s ongoing action to recover payment for the PCN, if he believes he has already paid. The Council accepts Mr X has submitted a payment but says this was for a different PCN. The matter is therefore in dispute and the TEC is better placed to consider the issue and provide a remedy. We therefore consider it would be reasonable for Mr X to use this process.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint. This is because it would have been reasonable for Mr X to appeal against the PCN, and to apply to the TEC to challenge the Council’s pursuit of payment.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman