Summary: Mr X complained he could not make a taxi renewal appointment before his license expiry date, meaning he must reapply as a new driver. The Ombudsman will not consider this complaint as there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained he could not speak to a Council member of staff or leave a voicemail to book an appointment for his hackney taxi license renewal. As a result, Mr X’s license expired, and the Council is requiring him to apply as a new driver. Mr X says this has wasted the fee he paid for a Disclosure and Barring disclosure and will cost him more time and money.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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

3. I have considered all the information Mr X provided. I have also considered the Council’s response. I have written to Mr X with my draft decision and considered his comments.

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What I found

What happened

4. The Council says it sent Mr X a reminder letter about his hackney taxi license renewal on 3 September 2019.
5. Mr X says after receiving the letter, he applied and paid for a DBS disclosure and prepared the other required paperwork. He says when the DBS disclosure arrived, there were three weeks left until the license expired. Mr X says he tried calling regularly to make an appointment to submit the papers but could not get through to anyone. He also says the Council’s voicemail service advised callers should not leave voicemails to arrange appointments.
6. On 9 December the Council told Mr X there were no appointment available before his expiry date of 16 December 2019. The Council said Mr X would need to apply as a new driver including paying for and taking the knowledge test.

Analysis

7. The Council’s ‘Licensing Policy for Hackney Carriage and Private Hire’ states the Council will aim to send a reminder letter to drivers 12 weeks before the license expires. The Council sent Mr X a reminder over 14 weeks in advance of the expiry date.
8. The policy also says a DBS disclosure can be submitted after the expiry date if the rest of the application is made in time. Mr X may therefore have sought an appointment at the Council before he received the DBS disclosure, and sent it to the Council afterwards.
9. The policy says that if an application is received late and the license expires, the driver will be unlicensed. At that point, the Council cannot treat the application as a renewal.
10. The Council says its voicemail service did not advise callers they could not leave messages for appointments. It says the message stated callers would get a faster response if they kept trying to call.
11. Complaints to the Ombudsman must have evidence of fault causing the complainant personal injustice. The Council’s licensing policy adheres to the relevant legislation and there is no evidence the Council failed to follow it in Mr X’s case.

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Final decision

12. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman