The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a Penalty Charge Notice. It was reasonable for Mr X to use his statutory right of appeal to an independent adjudicator.
The complaint
Mr X complained the Council wrongly issued him a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) when he paid for his parking session late due to technical difficulties. He says the Council refused to cancel the PCN and then instructed enforcement agents to recover payment for the PCN and enforcement costs. He says the matter has caused distress to the family and left them in financial difficulty. He wants the Council to refund the money he paid.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended) 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 the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X says he received a PCN which he disputed. He provided us a copy of the Council’s letter in response to his representations, which explained he would have the right to appeal when it issued the Notice to Owner. Mr X says he received several further letters, and that he refused to pay the PCN.
We are not an appeal body and we cannot decide whether the PCN was rightly issued. The Traffic Penalty Tribunal is an independent body with the power to cancel PCNs where appropriate. It was reasonable for Mr X to use his right of appeal, and there is no good reason for us to consider the matter instead. Given that Mr X did not use his right of appeal, and he also did not pay, the Council was entitled to refer the matter to the courts and instruct enforcement agents to pursue the debt.
In any event, given that the courts are already involved, Mr X would now need to submit a witness statement to the Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC) if he had grounds to do so. We have no power to cancel the PCN or revert it to an earlier stage to enable Mr X to use his right of appeal.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it was reasonable for him to use his statutory right of appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman