Summary: The Council has set its fees for caravan site licences without fault. Mr X complains about the level of increase but the Council calculated the level of increase so the licensing process was not subsidised by Council Tax payers. The Council has said it will consider giving more notice of increases in future.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I shall call Mr X complains the Council has increased the fees for a caravan site licence by 22%. Mr X says he was not informed of the increase in caravan site licence fees in enough time to pass them on to the residents of the caravans on the site.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
3. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I read the papers put in by Mr X and discussed the complaint with him.
5. I considered the Council’s comments about the complaint and any supporting documents it provided.
6. Mr X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

7. Mr X owns a caravan site. He pays a fee to the Council for a caravan site licence and collects fees from the residents.
8. The cost of his caravan site licence last year was £382. Mr X complains about the increase in site fees to £463 this year and has not paid the fees. Mr X says the annual rises from 2014 until this year have been much lower.
9. The Council has said that officer’s calculated the fees to cover the average time and cost in issuing the licence. The Council said the increase in fees was due to an increase in staff costs.
10. The Council has said the fees were approved by full Council in January and were published on the Council’s website in January. This means that site owners have 2 months before the new fees come in to enable them to consider the costs they charge residents for rent. The Council said that ‘there is a fine balance to ensure the fees charged fairly cover the costs incurred by the Council’.
11. Mr X strongly disagrees with the increase in fees. However, my role is not to decide how much the fees should be, but whether there has been any error in the Council’s administrative process.
12. The Council has calculated its costs and presented these to full Council, who approved them. So, I can find no evidence of fault leading up to the caravan site fees the Council charged Mr X.
13. I have considered Mr X’s remarks about the timing of the fee increases. Mr X said to me he has 34 caravans, so the increase in cost is just over £2 per caravan. While I note his comments, this does not seem such a large amount, per caravan, that would need notice when calculating annual rents. I say this especially as giving separate notice of fee increases, would increase the Council’s administration costs which would in turn increase the licensing costs further for caravan site owners.

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Final decision

14. I have completed my investigation. This complaint is not upheld as I have found no evidence of fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman