The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s enforcement of a penalty charge notice as Mr X could have asked the court to consider his case.
The complaint
Mr X complained the Council did not respond to his appeal against a parking penalty charge notice (PCN) it had issued to him, and that the Council passed the case to its enforcement agents. Mr X says this caused him stress and payment of the PCN has impacted on him financially.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Parliament has provided a mechanism by which motorists can challenge the enforcement of PCNs when something may have gone wrong in the process. In Mr X's case, as he says he did not receive a response to his appeal, on receipt of the order for recovery notice, Mr X could have asked the Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC), which is part of the county court system, to set back the case, to allow him to appeal. The information Mr X has provided to us indicates an order for recovery was sent to him on 10 August 2023.
It is reasonable to expect Mr X to have followed this procedure as it is the standard way provided in law to put right the issue he complains about. As such, we will not investigate.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is reasonable to expect him to have asked the TEC to consider his case.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman