Summary: Mr X complains about the wording of the Council’s signage for reserved electric vehicle charging points. We will not investigate the complaint because there is no evidence of fault by the Council and the injustice caused to Mr X is insufficient to warrant investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Mr X, says the Council is at fault for using signage at reserved electric vehicle charging points which do not state that private hire vehicles can use the bays labelled “taxi” as well as hackney carriages. He says this has and will cause confusion to the taxi and private hire industry.

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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, or
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. In considering the complaint I reviewed the information provided by Mr X, including the Council’s responses to his complaint. I gave Mr X the opportunity to comment on my draft decision and considered what he said.

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What I found

4. Mr X operates a private hire vehicle. In his area the Council has installed electric vehicle charging points at various locations with some of the bays denoted by the words “taxis only” and are reserved for use by taxis and private hire vehicles only.
5. Mr X complained to the Council about the wording of the signage for these bays because he believes the wording should specifically refer to private hire vehicles too.
6. The Council explained to Mr X that “taxis” covers both taxis and private hire vehicles and that the bays had been in operation for well over a year with no other complaints received about the description and wording of them. It explained it had used the word “taxi” because it is clear and widely understood and enables people to know who can and cannot use the reserved bays.
7. In response to Mr X’s attempts to conflate the issue of the wording used for the reserved bays with vehicles which are allowed to use bus lanes, the Council explained this was an unrelated highway matter and that the charge points are located in off street locations.
8. Dissatisfied with the Council’s response, Mr X complained to us.

Assessment

9. The Council has made clear to Mr X that he, as a private hire driver, can use the reserved “taxis only” charging point bays to charge his private hire vehicle. It has explained why it has used the wording it has and I see no evidence to suggest there has been fault by the Council in its handling of this matter. Moreover, Mr X has not been caused injustice sufficient to warrant an investigation.
10. In responding to my draft decision, Mr X says Transport for London has a different approach about which vehicles can use taxi-only charging bays and that while he does not have an electric car yet, it is an issue that will affect him in the future. However, Leeds City Council has already confirmed to him that private hire drivers in its area can use its taxi charging bays. When Mr X gets an electric car and he is concerned about whether he can charge it in taxi bays outside the Council’s area, he can check in advance about that area’s policy.

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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 the injustice caused to Mr X is insufficient to warrant investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman