London Borough of Hackney (21 012 609)
Category : Environment and regulation > Licensing
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 06 Jan 2022
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council will not refund £40 paid for a day trading licence. This is because this does not represent a level of injustice that would warrant our further involvement and it is unlikely we can achieve the outcome the complaint seeks.
The complaint
- Miss X complains the Council was wrong to charge her company £40 for a day trading licence as she says they were not carrying out a commercial activity but conducting a survey. Miss X considers the Council has miss-applied the law and seeks a refund.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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 any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, it is unlikely further investigation would lead to a different outcome or we could achieve the outcome the complainant seeks, or there is another body better placed to consider this complaint (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The injustice in this case, ie a loss of £40, does not represent an injustice serious enough to warrant our further involvement and the costs to public funds that this would require.
- In addition, it is unlikely we could achieve the outcome Miss X seeks. The Council has explained, with reference to the law, why it considers the fee was legitimate. Miss X disputes the Council’s interpretation of the law. Ultimately, only a court can rule whether Miss X is correct.
- For these reasons, we will not investigate.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because the injustice in this case is not sufficient to warrant our involvement and we cannot achieve the outcome Miss X seeks.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman