The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of a penalty charge notice as the injustice to Miss X is not sufficient to warrant our involvement.
The complaint
Miss X complains the Council failed to respond to contact she made with it about a penalty charge notice (PCN) for a parking contravention. Miss X also complains about the Council’s handling of her complaint. Miss X seeks a payment of £35 in recognition of the difficulties she has experienced.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Miss X says the Council has acknowledged some fault in how it dealt with her case. In recognition of this, Miss X says it has refunded £35 of the £70 she had paid for the PCN, thus allowing Miss X to pay the PCN at the discounted rate.
Miss X remains unhappy with this, and as she feels it is wrong for her complaint to have been dealt with by parking services and not a separate Council department. Because of this, Miss X seeks a refund of the remaining £35.
While I recognise Miss X remains dissatisfied, it would not be a good use of our resources to investigate the handling of the PCN, or Miss X’s complaint, to achieve an outcome of a payment to her of £35. This does not represent a level of injustice serious enough to warrant our involvement. As such, we will not investigate.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because her claimed injustice is not sufficient to warrant our involvement.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman