The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a charge certificate for a penalty charge notice as Mr X can challenge the Council’s enforcement action via the Traffic Enforcement Centre.
The complaint
Mr X complained he received a charge certificate for a penalty charge notice (PCN) he knew nothing about, and that the Council sent him confusing responses to a complaint he made about this. Mr X says this has been distressing. Mr X says he would have paid the PCN had he been aware of it and wants to be allowed to do so.
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 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) We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Parliament has provided a mechanism by which Mr X can challenge the Council’s enforcement of the PCN. Once the Council issues an Order for Recovery to Mr X he can ask the court at the Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC) to consider his case, that is, that he never received the initial PCN. If this is accepted, the PCN will be re-issued.
It is reasonable to expect Mr X to follow this statutory procedure, and as such, we will not investigate.
We will not investigate the Council’s responses to Mr X’s complaint as any injustice caused to him from this, as a separate matter, is not sufficient to justify our involvement,
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he can challenge the matter via the TEC.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman