Summary: Ms X complained the Council’s process for updating a vehicle on a parking permit in her area is flawed as residents have to pay for visitors permits while the change takes place. Ms X also says the Council takes payment for the permit before receiving the evidence it needs to check the vehicle. Ms X says she received a Penalty Charge Notice in the period of the permit changing and she was confused why the Council follows the process it does. We find fault in the actions of the Council because its messaging was confusing, and in the process followed to update parking permits. The Council has agreed to apologise review its email template.

The complaint

1. Ms X says the Council’s process for updating a vehicle on a parking permit in her area is flawed as residents have to pay for visitors permits whilst the change takes place. Ms X also says the Council takes payment for the permit before receiving the evidence it requires to check the vehicle.
2. Ms X says she received a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) in the period of the permit changing and she is confused why the Council follow the process it does.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. 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)
5. London Tribunals considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for London.
6. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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What I have and have not investigated

7. I have not investigated Ms X’s complaint about the issuing or validity of the PCNs. Ms X had a right of appeal. London Tribunals considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for London. It would have been reasonable for Ms X to appeal and therefore I will not consider this part of her complaint.

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How I considered this complaint

8. I have considered the correspondence Ms X provided.
9. Both Ms X and the Council provided comments on my draft decision. I have considered the comments made before making a final decision.

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What I found

10. Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs) are streets in the Borough that prioritise parking for residents, businesses and their visitors at certain times and days of the week. If you do not show a valid permit for the CPZ you are liable to receive a PCN.

Parking enforcement

11. If the Council believes a parking contravention has occurred, it may issue a PCN. (Traffic Management Act 2004, Part 6)
12. Where a council enforcement officer believes a PCN is payable with respect to a stationary vehicle, they can affix a PCN to the vehicle or give this to the driver. (Traffic Management Act 2004, section 78 and The Civil Enforcement of Parking Contraventions (England) General Regulations 2007, Section 9)
13. The person liable to pay a PCN can either pay the charge or make representations to an enforcement authority. (Traffic Management Act 2004, section 80)
14. If an enforcement authority does not accept a person’s representations, they can appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal. (Civil Enforcement of Road Traffic Contraventions (Representations and Appeals) (England) General Regulations, 2007, Section 9)

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What happened

15. Ms X bought a new vehicle in August 2023 and provided details on the Council’s website the same day to allow her to update her parking permit. Ms X paid for the amendments she had made to her permit.
16. Ms X received an email the same day from the Council. The subject of the email said: “Your vehicle details have been updated on your permit”. However, the body of the email asked Ms X provide information to verify she was the keeper and user of the vehicle.
17. Ms X did not notice the body of the email asked for information as she believed from the subject field of the email, and because she had paid, that her details were updated.
18. Ms X received a PCN several days later and then provided the information the Council asked for in the email.
19. Ms X had to buy visitors permits to ensure she did not receive any further PCN’s.
20. The Council approved the changes to Ms X’s permit within two working days of receiving the information it asked for.

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Analysis

21. The Councils website says when you change your vehicle, you must ensure that your permit is immediately changed to reflect this, as permits are only valid for the vehicle applied for.
22. The Councils website says residents need to provide motor insurance and V5 documents. I have not seen this is specifically asked for as part of the process when updating a vehicle.
23. A video on the Council’s website shows that it takes payment for any change in the cost band of the new vehicle and for the administrative charge associated with the change. The Council takes payment at the same time as it takes the changes.
24. If further evidence is needed, the Council sends an email to ask for the details it needs. In the email sent to Miss X, the Council asked for proof of vehicle and said that until the evidence had been sent and approved, she would have to buy visitors permits.
25. I accept the Council’s website refers to the need for motor insurance and a V5 document to be provided. However, the Council do not ask for this as part of taking the details to amend the permit.
26. The Council takes payment before it has received the details it says it needs to authorise the permit.
27. I accept the Council sent an email to Ms X asking for this information and telling her she would need to pay for visitors permits while the information was sent and reviewed. However, the title of the email sent is misleading and I can see why Ms X believed the permit had been updated from this. This is fault as information provided should be clear and accurate. I understand the Council is reviewing its email templates.
28. Ms X would always have to pay the charge for updating her permit and the cost of visitors parking permits while her new permit was approved. However, the Council should apologise to Ms X for the confusion it caused to her by the misleading email title in addition to reviewing the template emails.
29. The Councils process of taking payment before receiving the evidence it needs to authorise a change means some residents like Ms X are charged for both the updated permit and visitors parking permits. This is fault. It is not clear why the evidence cannot be requested as part of the process to update a permit and then once reviewed and accepted, payment requested. This would mean residents are not paying for changes to a permit they cannot use.
30. My draft decision recommended the Council make changes to its IT system to request evidence and then take payment after this had been provided and reviewed. In its response to my draft decision the Council explained it would be extremely costly to amend the system which deals with permits. But also, that it has a 12-month planned schedule of works already for the IT system.
31. The Council has said it is making changes to its website to make it clear that for a permit change of vehicle evidence must be provided.
32. I accept the changes to the permit system may be costly and the Council already has a planned maintenance schedule. As such, I have removed this recommendation as the Council have explained what action it will be taking to improve its website.

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Agreed action

33. Within one month of a final decision being issued the Council should:

• Write to Ms X to apologise for the confusion caused by the unclear email title.

34. Within two months the Council should:

• Review all email templates about the updating of parking permits.

35. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

36. I find fault with the Council for providing a misleading email and in the process followed to update parking permits.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman