The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about a Penalty Charge Notice for an alleged parking contravention. The complainant has used the statutory representations and appeals procedure.
The complaint
X says the Council has wrongly issued a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) and did not properly consider their representations about that notice. X said the appeals did not address the points they made and wants a refund.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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. If the person has already appealed, we have no power to investigate. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended) London Tribunals considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for London, and the Traffic Penalty Tribunal for the rest of England.
How I considered this complaint
I considered information from the complainant and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
Final decision
We cannot investigate this complaint because the complainant has already used the representations and appeals procedure. And in any case we have no power to overturn a PCN or direct the Council to issue a refund.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman