The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a moving traffic penalty charge notice as Miss X had the right to appeal it to the independent tribunal.
The complaint
Miss X disputes a penalty charge notice (PCN) the Council issued to her for entering a yellow box junction. Miss X complains the Council is holding her to account for a law that does not exist and told her she could pay the fine and appeal. Miss X says this has caused her stress and impacted on her financially.
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 law 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) We investigate 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 there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The law provides an appeal process which Miss X could have used to challenge the PCN, ultimately to independent adjudicators at London Tribunals. We are not an alternative appeal and cannot rule on the PCN. It is reasonable to expect Miss X to have used the statutory appeal process, and we will not therefore investigate.
Miss X also complains the Council told her she could pay the PCN and appeal, and that she would be refunded if her appeal was successful.
The choice in law is to either pay or appeal. We will not investigate this aspect of the complaint as I consider it is unlikely we will find fault by the Council.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because she had the right to appeal and it is unlikely we will find fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman