The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint about a Penalty Charge Notice he received for an alleged moving traffic contravention. This is because it was reasonable for Mr B to put in an appeal to London Tribunals.
The complaint
Mr B complains the Council wrongly issued him with a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) for an alleged moving traffic contravention. Mr B says the Council has made this decision based on incorrect information and there is insufficient signage in place in this location. Mr B would like the Council to refund the money he paid to cancel this PCN and to make a good will payment.
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) London Tribunals considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for London.
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr B.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
A motorist may pay a PCN to cancel it. Or, the motorist may follow the statutory representations and appeals process to challenge a PCN. This involves the motorist making formal representations to the local authority. If the local authority rejects these representations, the motorist may put in an appeal to London Tribunals (for authorities in London).
The Tribunal is independent and has the power to cancel a PCN. The process is free to use and relatively straightforward. We generally expect motorists to use this process if they consider a PCN was wrongly issued.
Rather than pay this PCN, Mr B could have challenged it by using this process. I find it was reasonable for Mr B to do this and the Tribunal was in the best position to decide if this PCN was properly issued by the Council.
So, we will not investigate this complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because it was reasonable for him to put in an appeal to London Tribunals.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman