The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about how the Council handled penalty charge notices. This is because Mr X has used his right of appeal to London Tribunals. Therefore his complaint is outside of our jurisdiction.
The complaint
Mr X complains the Council failed to consider his evidence that someone else was driving his car and is therefore responsible for the moving traffic penalties. He says it has ignored his requests to pay for the penalties in instalments.
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 the complainant and the Authority.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
A motorist can appeal a penalty charge notice. If the authority rejects the appeal, the motorist can take their case to an independent tribunal called the London Tribunals. Mr X took his case to the London Tribunals in August. This puts this complaint outside our jurisdiction.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is outside of our jurisdiction.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman