Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council was wrong to issue him a taxi driver’s licence for five years. This is because the matter does not cause him significant injustice. We will not investigate any complaint about the Council’s suspension of Mr X’s licence as it would have been reasonable for him to appeal.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council should not have issued him a taxi driver’s licence between 2016 and 2020. He claims he has lost almost £8,000 in income as a result of the suspension of his licence.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code. I shared my draft decision with Mr X and took account of his comments.

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My assessment

5. Mr X held a licence from the Council to drive a taxi from 2016 to 2020. He passed a medical examination with his GP at the time but when this expired the Council told him he would need to complete a new one. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic Mr X’s GP could not offer medical examinations so the Council appointed a medical officer and requested details of his medical history over the previous 12 months. Mr X provided this information but the medical officer felt further tests were required to show he was fit to drive a taxi. The Council therefore suspended his licence and Mr X could not work. Mr X says he does not dispute the Council’s decision to suspend his licence and suggests it should never have granted him a licence in the first place, given its concerns about his health.
6. We do not investigate all the complaints we receive. In deciding whether to investigate we need to consider various tests. These include the alleged injustice to the person complaining. We only investigate the most serious complaints.
7. While Mr X suggests the Council was wrong to grant him a licence between 2016 and 2020 this has not caused him injustice. The Council’s decisions provided a significant benefit to Mr X over several years and we will not therefore investigate whether these decisions were properly reached.
8. Mr X claims he has missed out on earnings totalling £8,000 but this is the result of the Council’s suspension of his taxi driver’s licence rather than its previous decisions to grant him a licence.
9. Section 61 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 allows a district council to suspend or revoke a taxi driver’s licence for “any other reasonable cause.” It also provides a right of appeal against any decision to suspend or revoke a licence. If therefore Mr X disagreed with the Council’s decision to suspend his licence it would have been reasonable for him to use his right of appeal in accordance with Paragraph 3 above.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the Council’s decisions to grant Mr X a taxi driver’s licence between 2016 and 2020 did not cause Mr X injustice and if Mr X disputed its decision to suspend his licence it would have been reasonable for him to appeal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman