The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s actions relating to a fixed penalty notice. This is because it is unlikely we would find fault and there is no worthwhile outcome achievable.
The complaint
Mr X complained the Council refused to overturn a penalty, awarded against him at Magistrates Court, following a hearing relating to an unpaid fixed penalty notice (FPN), he had been issued. Mr X said this caused him financial hardship.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide: there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
According to the complaint letters, Mr X complained because the Council would not waive the costs related to a fine, after it had earlier issued an FPN. Mr X paid the FPN after he was aware of court proceedings.
The Council provided information about the sequence of the issue of the FPN and a reminder notice that was sent after this point, but before court action. The Council said that Mr X had paid the £150, outside of the 14-day period when this option was available.
We will not investigate this complaint because it is unlikely we would find fault in how the Council responded to the FPN, before proceeding to court action. In any case we cannot direct the Council to waive costs after court proceedings and so there is no worthwhile outcome achievable.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is unlikely we would find fault and there is no worthwhile outcome achievable.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman