The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint about a Penalty Charge Notice. This is because it was reasonable for Mr B to put in an appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.
The complaint
Mr B says the Council wrongly issued him with a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) for driving through a bus gate. Mr B says this restriction is not clearly signed in line with national protocols and the Council has failed to listen or respond to his complaint about this. Mr B would like the Council to apologise and refund his costs cancelling this PCN.
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 Mr B.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Rather than pay this PCN, Mr B could have challenged it by putting in an appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal. It is the role of the Tribunal to independently decide whether a PCN was correctly issued including whether signage is sufficient to warn motorists of restrictions in place. We generally expect this right of appeal to be used and I find it was reasonable for Mr B to do this.
So, we will not investigate Mr B’s complaint that this PCN should not have been issued.
Because we are not investigating the substantive issue complained about, an investigation solely into the Council’s handling of Mr B’s correspondence is not justified. Mr B may request information from the Council under the Freedom of Information Act if needed. Also, it is likely the Traffic Penalty Tribunal will consider this specific issue when deciding appeals from other motorists who have been issued a PCN for this alleged contravention.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because it was reasonable for him to put in an appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman