The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about several penalty charge notices he says he is not liable for. This is because it would be reasonable for Mr X to apply to the Traffic Enforcement Centre to reinstate his right of appeal.
The complaint
The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council issued him several penalty charge notices (PCNs) for contraventions which took place after he sold his car. He says he did not receive any correspondence from the Council about the PCNs before it passed the cases to its enforcement agents (bailiffs) to recover payment.
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) The Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC) is part of Northampton County Court. It considers applications from local authorities to pursue payment of unpaid PCNs and from motorists to challenge local authorities’ pursuit of unpaid PCNs.
The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended) The Traffic Penalty Tribunal considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for all areas of England outside London.
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Because Mr X did not receive the PCNs issued by the Council he may apply to the TEC to make late witness statements/statutory declarations. If the TEC accepts his applications it may order the Council to take the process back to an earlier stage, reinstating his right of appeal and removing the basis for any additional charges. It would then be reasonable for Mr X to appeal against the PCNs.
The process of making late witness statements/statutory declarations is relatively easy to follow and I have seen nothing to suggest it would not be reasonable for Mr X to use it. I will not therefore exercise our discretion to investigate the complaint.
Mr X is also unhappy with the way the Council dealt with his complaint. But it is not a good use of public resources to look at the Council’s complaints handling if we are not going to look at the substantive issue complained about. We will not therefore investigate this issue separately.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint. This is because it would be reasonable for Mr X to apply to the TEC to make late witness statements/statutory declarations.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman