The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We cannot investigate Mr B’s complaint about a Penalty Charge Notice. This is because Mr B appealed to the tribunal and we cannot investigate the tribunal’s consideration of his appeal.
The complaint
The complainant, who I will refer to as Mr B, complains that the Council wrongly issued him with a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) for an alleged moving traffic contravention. Mr B also complains the London Tribunals Adjudicator decided his appeal even though the Council did not send him an information pack relating to the alleged contravention.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended) London Tribunals (previously known as the Parking and Traffic Appeals Service) considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for London.
We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. We cannot investigate the actions of bodies such as tribunals. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34(1), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr B.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
We cannot investigate Mr B’s complaint that the Council was wrong to issue the PCN. This is because Mr B put in an appeal to London Tribunals against the PCN. This means we have no discretion to consider whether the PCN was correctly issued.
We cannot investigate Mr B’s complaint about London Tribunals’ consideration of his appeal. This is because London Tribunals is not a body in our jurisdiction.
Final decision
For the above reasons, we cannot investigate Mr B’s complaint.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman