Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s escalation of a penalty charge notice. This is because it would be reasonable for Mr X to apply to the Traffic Enforcement Centre to make a late statutory declaration. If Mr X has already applied to make a late statutory declaration we cannot investigate; Mr X may therefore wish to apply for a review of the decision to refuse his application.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council sent correspondence about a penalty charge notice (PCN) to an incomplete address which missed off his road and house number. As a result he says he did not receive the correspondence and was unaware of the PCN until enforcement agents (bailiffs) wrote to him. He paid them £279 to settle the matter but wants the Council to refund the surcharges and fees totalling £214.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. We may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court but cannot investigate if the person has already asked a court to consider the matter. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
4. The Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC) is part of Northampton County Court. In certain circumstances, for instance where a motorist complains they did not receive correspondence about a PCN or if they made representations against a PCN but did not receive a response, the TEC has the power to order the authority to take the process back to an earlier stage.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Because Mr X did not receive the Council’s PCN he may apply to the TEC to make a late statutory declaration. If the TEC accepts Mr X’s application it may order the Council to take the process back to an earlier stage, reducing the amount of the PCN and removing the basis for any surcharges and bailiff fees.
7. Mr X suggests he may already have approached the TEC about the matter; if Mr X has applied to the TEC to file a late statutory declaration, and if the TEC has refused Mr X’s application, we could not investigate the matter further as set out at Paragraph 3 above. If Mr X is unhappy with the TEC’s decision he may wish to consider applying for a review of its decision.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the issue raised is more appropriately a matter for the TEC. If Mr X has not yet applied to the TEC it would be reasonable for him to do so; if Mr X has already applied to the TEC we retain no discretion to investigate the complaint as he has used the alternative remedy available to him.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman