The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s refusal to cancel a penalty charge notice (PCN). This is because the Council has now cancelled the PCN.
The complaint
Miss X complained the Council did not cancel a PCN it had issued because she did not pay for parking. She stated she had not paid because both the online system and the ticket machine were not working at the time, so she paid later the same day. She wanted the Council to cancel the PCN.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We consider 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 further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (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
After the complaint came to us, but before we considered it, the Council cancelled the PCN. This resolved Miss X’s main concern. We could not achieve significantly more by investigating.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because the PCN has now been cancelled and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman