The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about a Penalty Charge Notice because the complainant appealed to the tribunal.
The complaint
The complainant, Mr X, complains about a Penalty Chare Notice (PCN). He says the signage was inadequate. He says that neither the Council nor the tribunal properly considered his evidence and the police later said a contravention had not incurred. Mr X wants an apology, refund and £500 compensation.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal about the same matter. We also cannot investigate a complaint if in doing so we would overlap with the role of a tribunal to decide something which has been or could have been referred to it to resolve using its own powers. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended) London Tribunals considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for London.
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X. I also considered the tribunal decision and our Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X appealed to the tribunal about a PCN. He said the parking restrictions were not properly signed. The tribunal dismissed his appeal and directed him to pay the full fine.
The law says we cannot investigate any matter that has been the subject of an appeal to the tribunal. This restriction still applies when the applicant loses the appeal or if new information subsequently appears. Because we cannot investigate the main issue (the PCN) we will not investigate the complaints about delay or the way the Council considered Mr X’s evidence. There is no part of the complaint we can investigate.
Final decision
We cannot investigate this complaint because Mr X appealed to the tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman