The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a penalty charge notice issued to Mr X by the Council and how it dealt with his appeal. This is because there is insufficient remaining injustice to Mr X and no broader public interest grounds to warrant our involvement.
The complaint
Mr X complains the Council issued a penalty charge notice (PCN) to him in error when it wrongly said he had driven the wrong way down a one-way street. Mr X complains the Council failed to properly consider his appeal and has stopped replying to his correspondence about this matter. Mr X is concerned about operational failures at the Council in how it deals with PCN appeals and how this may affect vulnerable people.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact 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 or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
As the PCN has been cancelled, there is insufficient remaining personal injustice to Mr X to warrant an investigation. Parliament has provided a statutory appeal process to enable motorists to challenge PCNs, which we have no involvement in, and so I do not consider there are broader, public interest grounds to justify our further consideration.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient remaining injustice caused to him and no public interest grounds, to warrant our involvement.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman