The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a parking penalty charge notice as Mr X can appeal against it to the independent tribunal.
The complaint
Mr X complains about a parking penalty charge notice (PCN) issued to him for parking in a place he has parked for many years without issue. Mr X says there are no visible signs warning of parking restrictions and wants the Council to cancel the PCN.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Parliament has provided an appeal mechanism by which Mr X can challenge the PCN, ultimately to independent parking adjudicators at the Traffic Penalty Tribunal (TPT). It is reasonable to expect Mr X to make use of this process and we will not therefore investigate.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he can reasonably appeal the PCN to the TPT.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman