The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about a penalty charge notice issued by the Council. This is because Mr X paid at the discounted rate of £55 and this amount is not significant enough to warrant investigation.
The complaint
The complainant, Mr X, complains about a penalty charge notice (PCN) issued by the Council. Mr X paid the PCN at the discounted rate of £55 to avoid any increases in the cost and tried to challenge it through the complaints process. He is unhappy the Council has not taken account of his comments and has refused to cancel the PCN.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect 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 an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
We do not investigate all the complaints we receive. In deciding whether to investigate we need to consider various tests. These include the alleged injustice to the person complaining. We only investigate the most serious complaints.
I understand Mr X is unhappy with the PCN issued by the Council but he paid this at the discounted rate of £55 and this amount is not significant enough to warrant investigation.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the issue of the PCN did not cause Mr X significant enough injustice to warrant investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman