Middlesbrough Borough Council (23 001 550)
Category : Environment and regulation > Licensing
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 06 Jun 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council administers its selective landlord licensing scheme. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.
The complaint
- Mr X complained the Council would not allow him to pay the selective landlord licensing fee pro-rata. He said the Council required him to pay the full fee before issuing the license. He said it only issued the license for 14 months as opposed to the full five years causing him a financial burden. Mr X wants the Council to consider payments pro-rata.
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:
- there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
- we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.
(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
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s decision not to allow him to pay the selective landlord scheme pro-rata. The Council has administered the scheme in line with its policy. In its complaint response to Mr X, the Council explained why it was necessary for the landlord to pay the fee before the Council issued the license. There is not enough fault in how the Council considered Mr X’s request to pay pro-rata to justify investigating. In any event, it is for the Council to determine how it collects the landlord licensing fee. We cannot achieve the outcome Mr X wants.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman