The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint that a traffic restriction is not clearly signed. This is because it was reasonable for Mr B to put in an appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.
The complaint
Mr B complains he was issued with a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) for driving through a bus gate. Mr B says the Council has not put in place sufficient signage to warn motorists of this restriction, which he considers the Council is using to earn money. Mr B would like the Council to remove this restriction or put in place clear signage.
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 Act 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 Traffic Penalty Tribunal considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for all areas of England outside London.
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr B.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
We would not normally investigate a complaint that a parking or moving traffic restriction is not clearly signed. This is because a motorist may challenge a PCN by putting in an appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.
It is the role of the Tribunal to independently decide whether a PCN was correctly issued. Importantly, this includes deciding whether signage is sufficient to warn motorists of restrictions in place. The Tribunal has the relevant knowledge and expertise to make this decision.
We generally expect this right of appeal to be used and I find it was reasonable for Mr B to put in an appeal.
Also, it is likely the Traffic Penalty Tribunal will consider this specific issue when deciding appeals from other motorists who have been issued a PCN for this alleged contravention.
So, we will not investigate Mr B’s complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because it was reasonable for Mr B to put in an appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman