The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about a Penalty Charge Notice because Miss Y has already appealed to the tribunal.
The complaint
Miss Y complained about the Authority not providing the CCTV footage of a contravention she had received a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) before the deadline for her to appeal. Miss Y says this led to her fine increasing.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal about the same matter. We also cannot investigate a complaint if in doing so we would overlap with the role of a tribunal to decide something which has been or could have been referred to it to resolve using its own powers. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information Miss Y provided and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate. This includes that we cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal about the same matter.
In this case, Miss Y has made an appeal to the tribunal, so we cannot investigate her complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss Y’s complaint because she has already appealed to the tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman