The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a parking penalty charge notice as the complainant had the right to appeal to a tribunal to challenge it.
The complaint
Mr X complains the Council wrongly issued him with a parking penalty charge notice (PCN) as he had a valid permit to park. Mr X says this matter has caused him stress and he would like the Council to 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)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X has the right to challenge the PCN using the appeal procedure provided in law, which culminates in an appeal to an independent adjudicator at London Tribunals. The Council has signposted Mr X to this procedure. We are not another level of appeal and not empowered to make the same decisions as the Tribunal. We cannot cancel the PCN. It is reasonable therefore to expect Mr X to use his appeal right and as per paragraph three, we will not investigate.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is reasonable to expect him to appeal the PCN using his tribunal appeal right.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman