The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint about a Penalty Charge Notice she received for an alleged parking contravention. This is because it was reasonable for Mrs B to put in an appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.
The complaint
Mrs B complains the Council wrongly issued her with a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) for an alleged parking contravention. Mrs B says the parking restrictions in this location are not clearly signed.
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 Act 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 Mrs B.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
We do not normally investigate a complaint that a PCN should not have been issued. This is because there is a statutory representations and appeals procedure which we generally expect a motorist to use.
After receiving a Notice to Owner, the motorist may put in formal representations to the authority which issued the PCN.
If the authority rejects these representations, the motorist may put in an appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal (for local authorities outside London). The tribunal is independent and has the power to cancel a PCN.
Rather than pay this PCN, Mrs B could have used this process to challenge the PCN. The Council told Mrs B about this process.
I have not seen any information to suggest it was unreasonable for Mrs B to put in formal representations, and if needed, appeal to the tribunal.
So, we will not investigate this complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint because it was reasonable for her to put in an appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal if needed.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman