The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a penalty charge notice issued by the Council for a parking contravention and the following action taken by bailiffs on behalf of the Council. The law provides a right of appeal to a tribunal against the penalty charge notice and it would have been reasonable for Miss X to use that right.
The complaint
Miss X complains she is unhappy the Council has not halved or written off her parking ticket after she parked in a permit only bay without a permit. She has spoken to the Council about this but has not paid the charge. Bailiffs have now been appointed to recover costs.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate. It says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has or had a right of appeal to a tribunal. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Miss X I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council enforces parking restrictions and takes recovery action using procedures set out in the Traffic Management Act 2004 and associated Regulations. Councils and motorists must follow these procedures although councils have discretion to stop enforcement or recovery action if they believe there are good reasons to do so.
It does not appear Miss X paid any of the penalty charge or made formal representations to the Council. For this reason, the Council has continued recovery action and registered the unpaid penalty charge as a debt. This allows the Council to use bailiffs to recover the unpaid penalty charge and associated costs from Miss X.
Miss X had a right of appeal against the penalty charge notice to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal (TPT) which is a statutory tribunal. An appeal to the TPT is free and relatively easy to use. It is also the way in which Parliament expects people to contest a penalty charge notice. For these reasons, the restriction I describe in paragraph 2 would generally apply.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint. This is because I have seen no exceptional reason Miss X could not have appealed to the TPT. The restriction on our jurisdiction I describe in paragraph 2 applies.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman