Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the cancellation of the complainant’s appointment for a vehicle inspection. Further investigation is unlikely to find fault in the way the organisation communicated the arrangements.

The complaint

1. The complainant, I shall call Mr X, complains the Council cancelled his pre-booked appointment for his taxi vehicle inspection in December 2022.
2. He says this caused him to lose two weeks work leading to financial loss, anxiety and stress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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 there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the information provided by Mr X on the Authority’s website.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. The Authority confirms a notice with the reference TPH Notice 16/22 was uploaded to its website. The date of the notice is five days before Mr X’s appointment for a vehicle inspection.
7. The Notice states a four months extension to licences for all vehicles due to be relicensed in December 2022. The vehicles must be roadworthy and hold a valid MOT certificate for the extension to apply.
8. The Notice states :

“The four-month period will begin on the day the current vehicle licence is due to expire. For example, if a vehicle licence is due to expire on 15 December 2022, it will remain licensed until 15 April 2023. This applies to any taxi vehicle of PHV licence that expires during this period, regardless of whether an inspection has been booked or not. Any booking that has been made will be cancelled with immediate effect and the vehicle is not required to attend a vehicle inspection site.”

9. The Authority confirms the Officer telephoned Mr X on the 10 and 11 December confirming the above. It also confirmed it is the license holder’s responsibility to check the website regularly for updates.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because from the information we have seen, it is unlikely that we will find fault in the Authority’s actions.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman