The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a Penalty Charge Notice for an alleged traffic contravention. It would be reasonable to expect the complainant to use the statutory representations and appeals procedure. In this case the Council has cancelled the penalties using its discretion before Mr X could appeal and there is insufficient personal injustice remaining.
The complaint
Mr X says the Council has wrongly issued moving penalty charges (PCN’s) for alleged traffic contraventions. He says the Council’s inadequate signage set up a ‘trap’ for motorists and it has subsequently withdrawn enforcement for the site in question. He believes he should be entitled to compensation for the stress and inconvenience caused by the penalties.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes limits on what we can investigate.
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, the Council’s response and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
Assessment Mr. X says he incurred several camera controlled moving traffic penalties in a location where the signage created a trap for motorists. The Council subsequently suspended enforcement at the site and cancelled. The Council says that the enforcement has been suspended due to an ongoing parking review and that this does not imply that the previous enforcement was invalid. It will not pay Mr X the £400 he requested for his injustice.
We will not investigate this complaint. Mr X says he has incurred 7 PCN’s related to this site and he could have exercised his right to appeal to the London Tribunals for each penalty issued. The procedure is free and it was reasonable for him to challenge the penalties with the Adjudicator. In this case the Council cancelled the penalties at the representations stage, and we would not recommend any compensation when the Council exercises its discretion to cancel a penalty, the injustice is insufficient.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint because it was reasonable for the complainant to use the representations and appeals procedure available under the Traffic Management Act 2004 legislation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman