The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to issue Ms X with a penalty charge notice. This is because the complaint concerns events that took place more than 12 months ago; it would have been reasonable for Ms X to refer the complaint to us at the time. In addition, if we were to exercise discretion an investigation would be unlikely to result in a worthwhile outcome.
The complaint
Ms X complained that the Council improperly issued her with a penalty charge notice.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended) 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: there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Ms X parked at a bus stop in 2022 to allow a friend with mobility issues to leave her car safely. Shortly after this, the Council issued Ms X with a penalty charge notice (PCN).
Ms X complained to the Council as she was unhappy with the signage used at the bus stop however, she went on to pay the full cost of the PCN. The Council did not uphold her complaint stating that there were road markings showing the bus stop was a restricted parking area. Ms X brought her complaint to us as she was unhappy with the Council’s response.
The Ombudsman will not usually exercise discretion to investigate matters that took place more than 12 months before the complainant contacts us unless there are good reasons to do so. In this case, it would have been reasonable for Ms X to bring the complaint to us sooner.
In addition, as Ms X has already paid the PCN, she has lost the right to challenge it in line with the Council’s process. An investigation would therefore be unlikely to result in a worthwhile outcome.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the complaint concerns events that took place more than 12 months ago. In addition, even if we did exercise discretion, an investigation would be unlikely to result in a worthwhile outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman