Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council requesting payment for a second animal boarding license for a different property. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains that the Council requested payment for a second animal boarding license after she moved to a new house despite paying for a boarding license only six months prior.
2. Mrs X says that she wants the remaining 18 months of her previous license to be taken into consideration.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we would find fault. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have considered Mrs X’s complaint to the Ombudsman and the information provided. I gave Mrs X the opportunity to comment on my draft decision and considered what she said.

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What I found

5. The Council applies animal boarding license fees in line with the Animal Boarding Establishments Act 1963, which outlines a fee applicable for a boarding license is specific to the “establishment” and not the person. The exact fee charged is to be determined by the local authority.
6. Whilst Mrs X held a license for the previous property this is not transferrable to another property. This is because a license needs to take into consideration aspects of a particular establishment such as construction and size of quarters, exercise facilities, lighting, ventilation, isolation facilities, temperature and cleanliness.
7. The Council would need to carry out an assessment of Mrs X’s new property. As such, the fee charged by the Council for a license would need to be applied again for the new property.
8. The fees charged by the Council for each establishment have been consistent. As such, there is no evidence of fault with the license fee applied by the Council.

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Final decision

9. My decision is that the Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is no evidence of fault by the council in applying a license charge for Mrs X’s new property.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman