The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a parking penalty charge notice as Mr X can appeal against it to London Tribunals and it is reasonable to expect him to do so.
The complaint
Mr X complains the Council wrongly issued him with a parking penalty charge notice (PCN). Mr X says this is making him depressed.
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 and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
In its stage 2 complaint response, the Council explained why it had rejected the representations that had been made against the PCN and had not upheld Mr X’s complaint about it. The Council said the next stage, if payment was not made, would be for it to issue a Notice to Owner (NtO).
Parliament has provided an appeal mechanism for motorists to challenge PCNs. Once a NtO is issued, the right to appeal formally to the Council is provided, and if the Council rejects this appeal, the right to appeal to the independent tribunal, London Tribunals, becomes available. We are not another level of appeal, and we cannot make the decisions the Tribunal can. It is reasonable therefore to expect Mr X to follow the statutory appeal process available to him, and we will not therefore investigate.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is reasonable to expect him to use his appeal right to the Tribunal to challenge the PCN.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman