The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a Penalty Charge Notice because the Council has cancelled the notice and it is unlikely further investigation would achieve more for Mr X.
The complaint
Mr X complains the Council issued him a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) when he could not extend his parking because the mobile app was not working. He says this caused him distress.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X says the Council issued a PCN when he could not extend his parking because the mobile app was not working. He says it failed to investigate this and delayed responding to his Subject Access Request.
I appreciate Mr X says the Council’s actions caused him emotional distress but the Council has cancelled the PCN and this provides a suitable remedy for the complaint. While it is clear Mr X went to some time and trouble to challenge the PCN this was not significantly more than would normally be required to use the statutory appeals process. It is therefore unlikely we would recommend anything more more for Mr X.
Mr X’s concerns about the delay in responding to his Subject Access Request are better considered by the Information Commissioner, as they are better placed to deal with data access complaints and to decide whether the Council complied with its obligations under the relevant legislation.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint because the Council has already cancelled the PCN and it is unlikely further investigation would achieve significantly more for Mr X.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman