Summary: We cannot investigate Mrs B’s complaint that the Council wrongly issued her with a Penalty Charge Notice for a parking contravention. This is because Mrs B put in an appeal to London Tribunals.

The complaint

1. Mrs B complains the Council wrongly issued her with a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) for an alleged parking contravention. Mrs B does not consider it is fair that she must pay this PCN.

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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. We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal about the same matter. We also cannot investigate a complaint if in doing so we would overlap with the role of a tribunal to decide something which has been or could have been referred to it to resolve using its own powers. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
4. London Tribunals considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for London.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Mrs B and information on London Tribunals’ website.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mrs B put in an appeal to London Tribunals against this PCN. This was the appropriate way to challenge the Council’s decision to issue this PCN.
8. Because Mrs B put in an appeal, this means we cannot investigate her complaint that this PCN should not have been issued.

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Final decision

9. We cannot investigate this complaint because Mrs B put in an appeal to London Tribunals.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman