Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council will not agree to renew his taxi vehicle licence. This is because there is no evidence of fault by the Council and Mr X has a right of appeal to the magistrates’ court which it would be reasonable for him to use.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council will not agree to renew his taxi vehicle licence, which expired in April 2020.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. This complaint involves events that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Government introduced a range of new and frequently updated rules and guidance during this time. We can consider whether the council followed the relevant legislation, guidance and our published “Good Administrative Practice during the response to COVID-19”.

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. (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 the Mr X and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
6. I shared my draft decision with Mr X and considered his comments.

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My assessment

7. Mr X is a taxi driver. His vehicle licence, issued by the Council, expired in April 2020 and Mr X says he was not able to renew it because he suffered a complete loss of income as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. He received a government grant in early 2021 and now wishes to renew his licence, but the Council has explained he is too late. The Council’s policies allowed Mr X to apply to renew the existing licence for his vehicle but it will not issue a new licence for any vehicle over five years old and Mr X’s taxi is more than eight years old.
8. The Council acknowledges the impact of COVID-19 on businesses including taxi drivers and changed its policies to allow licence renewals up to three months after the expiry of an existing licence. But Mr X has waited almost 12 months and is significantly outside this deadline.
9. The Council has clearly considered COVID-19 in deciding to change its policy and its advice to Mr X is clearly in-line with this. It is not for us to say it should have extended the deadline for renewals further to allow Mr X to apply now.
10. Mr X has not actually applied to renew his licence but the Council has explained that if it does and if it rejects the application he may appeal to the magistrates’ court. If therefore Mr X wishes to challenge the Council’s view on the matter it would be reasonable for him to apply to the Council and appeal against any refusal.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is no evidence of fault by the Council and if Mr X wishes to challenge the Council’s position it would be reasonable for him to apply for a licence and appeal to the magistrates’ court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman