Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s refusal to increase the size of a parking bay outside Mr X’s property after he received Penalty Charge Notices. Mr X has a right to appeal Penalty Charge Notices to a tribunal. There is not a good reason Mr X did not complain sooner about the size of the parking bay.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) he received, and his subsequent request to the Council to increase the size of his parking bay. He says his neighbours, who are not of the same ethnicity as him, have not received PCNs for similar parking and he considers the Council’s actions discriminatory.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal 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 appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
3. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mr X has the right to appeal PCNs to London Tribunals on mitigating circumstances. The tribunal is best placed to consider appeals of PCNs, and there is not a good reason for us to consider the complaint instead as we cannot cancel PCNs.
8. Mr X says his and his neighbour’s vehicles cannot both fit in the space outside their houses, so one vehicle is likely to regularly be parked partly out of the bay.
9. The evidence Mr X provided shows the parking bay has been in place since June 2021. The law requires people to bring complaints to us within 12 months of becoming aware of the issue, unless there are good reasons. Mr X could have complained to the Council, then the Ombudsman, sooner on discovering his vehicle may not fit inside the parking bay outside his house.
10. However, in any event, the parking bay is not assigned specifically to Mr X and he is able to use his parking permit to park in other available spaces in the zone. Even if we decided to exercise discretion and consider the complaint as made in time, it is unlikely we would decide any fault by the Council was responsible for the injustice to Mr X. It is Mr X’s responsibility to ensure he parks fully in a bay to comply with the requirements of the Controlled Parking Zone.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he has the statutory right of appeal to London Tribunals about PCNs he receives, and it would have been reasonable for him to complain sooner about the size of the bay outside his property.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman