Summary: We cannot investigate Mr B’s complaint about a Penalty Charge Notice because he appealed to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.

The complaint

1. Mr B complains the Council is wrongly pursuing a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) it issued to him for driving in a Clean Air Zone without paying the charge. Mr B says there were mitigating circumstances which means the Council is wrong to pursue 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. The Traffic Penalty Tribunal considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for all areas of England outside London.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Mr B.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mr B put in an appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal against this PCN. This was the appropriate way to challenge the Council’s decision to pursue this PCN. The Tribunal is independent and for this type of PCN the Tribunal can consider whether there were mitigating circumstances which justify the PCN being cancelled.
8. Because Mr B put in an appeal to the Tribunal this means we cannot investigate his complaint and have no discretion to start an investigation.

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Final decision

9. We cannot investigate this complaint because Mr B put in an appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman