The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a penalty charge notice. This is because it would be reasonable for Mr X to appeal to an independent tribunal.
The complaint
Mr X complains the Council wrongly issued a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN). He believes it did not consider all available evidence when he challenged this decision. He wants the Council to reassess the information and cancel the PCN.
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 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) London Tribunals considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for London.
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
I will not investigate this because Mr X can appeal to the Environment and Traffic Adjudicators (London Tribunals). It is reasonable to expect Mr X to appeal because London Tribunals is the appropriate body to consider PCN appeals and is free to use.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he has a right of appeal to the London Tribunals placing it out of our jurisdiction.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman