Chelmsford City Council (21 004 600)
Category : Environment and regulation > COVID-19
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 17 Aug 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council decision to end temporary changes to its taxi licensing policy. We are unlikely to find fault in the Council’s actions.
The complaint
- The complainant, I shall call Mr B, is licensed cab driver. His taxi licence expires in August 2021 when his car reaches 13 years old. He complains the Council has allowed some taxis which are 12 years old to get a license extension to March 2022.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A (6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr B and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The Council’s taxi licensing policy imposes a maximum age for licensed cars of 12 years.
- Because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the taxi trade, the Council agreed a temporary change to its policy. This increased the maximum car age to 13 years until March 2021.
- Because of this change there will be some licensed taxis on the road which are older than Mr B’s car.
- Mr B complains must have a new vehicle when other cars which were relicensed before March 2021 are older. He says this is unfair and he cannot afford to invest in a newer taxi.
- The information provided by the Council is clear the agreed changes were temporary. This is a decision the Council is entitled to make.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr Bs complaint because we are unlikely to find fault in the way the Council made its decision to make temporary changes to its taxi licensing policy.
Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman