Summary: Mr X complained the Council delayed issuing his taxi licence when he applied to renew it and told him he did not have a valid safeguarding certificate. Mr X said his certificate was valid. The Ombudsman considers the date on the certificate was misleading, but the Council clarified this to Mr X and explained how he could renew his licence on time and continue to drive his taxi. It is not at fault.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council delayed issuing his taxi licence when he applied to renew it and told him he did not have a valid safeguarding certificate. Mr X said his certificate was valid and the Council is making excuses, saying the dates were in the American format. The delay in issuing the licence meant Mr X could not work. Mr X wants the Council to compensate him and apologise.

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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 consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
3. If we are satisfied with an organisation’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. As part of the investigation I have considered the following:
• The complaint and the documents provided by the complainant.
• Documents provided by the Council and on its website and its comments in response to my enquiries.
5. 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

Relevant legislation

The Council’s policies and procedures

6. The Council’s website says it is up the licence holder to apply to renew their licence before their current licence expires. There is a checklist of things the applicant must provide.
7. The Council sends automated renewal reminders to licence holders ahead of licence expiry. The website has contact details for applicants who need further information or support with their application.
8. The Council’s website says it aims to process all valid and complete applications within ten working days unless it needs to be investigated first.
9. The Council’s Taxi and Private Hire Licensing Policy states the council is committed to safeguarding the needs of children and vulnerable groups. All applicants must complete a safeguarding training course. A new driver must complete the training course as part of the application process. Existing drivers must do refresher training every three years and are invited to book this as part of the application process if required. The training is provided every month.
10. Should a renewal applicant apply with an expired safeguarding certificate, the Council suspends the application until they have attended the training. If the applicant fails to complete the training within six months, the application is returned to the applicant with the application fee.
11. In exceptional circumstances, the Council may grant a licence on the understanding the applicant attends the safeguarding training within a timeframe. If they do not, the Council will suspend the licence.

What happened

12. I have summarised below the key events; this is not intended to be a detailed account.
13. Mr X is a licensed taxi driver.
14. The Council’s record shows a licensing officer updated Mr X’s file on 9 April 2019. It said Mr X attended safeguarding training the previous day, 8 April 2019.
15. The Council granted Mr X a three-year licence in 2019. It was due to expire in July 2022.
16. The Council sent Mr X automated emails in April and June 2022 reminding him his licence was about to expire and due for renewal. The emails explained what Mr X needed to do before his licence could be renewed, this included attending the next available safeguarding refresher training.
17. Mr X sent his renewal application in June 2022. He uploaded his safeguarding certificate dated 04.08.19. Mr X told me his safeguarding certificate was due to expire in August 2022 (and not April as the Council said), and he did not consider he needed to take the refresher training before then.
18. A few days later, the Council emailed Mr X and said his application was incomplete. It requested additional information and confirmation Mr X had booked on the next available safeguarding course. The same day, Mr X emailed the Council and said he had booked the course for November. There was no correspondence from Mr X explaining why he could not book an earlier course.
19. A Council Officer spoke to Mr X on the telephone later in June. Mr refused to book an earlier safeguarding course than November.
20. Mr X’s licence expired at the end of July. He could not drive his taxi as his application to renew was incomplete.
21. The Council sent a reminder email to Mr X at the beginning of August advising his application was still incomplete and asking him to provide evidence he had booked the next available course.
22. In late August, the Council validated Mr X’s application as he had booked the safeguarding training for November, even though this was not the next available. The Council granted Mr X’s licence two days later.
23. Mr X did not attend the training course in November. He emailed the Council saying he was abroad and asked to attend the next course. The Council did not receive this message as it was sent to an email address for outbound correspondence only. The Council said it has no evidence Mr X tried to contact the Council again to rebook the course.
24. In May 2023, the Council contacted Mr X and said if he did not attend the course within 21 days, it would suspend his licence. Mr X was abroad and not able to attend the next course. The Council booked Mr X on the course in July 2023. In response to my enquiries, the Council said Mr X has not yet attended the training.
25. In April 2023, the Council complained to the Council. The Council issued a stage one response in May and a stage two response in July. The Council partially upheld Mr X’s complaint due to the initial confusion about the date on his safeguarding certificate and explained it used the American date format and not the British format. It apologised and said it has now changed the format of certificates to avoid confusion in the future.
26. The final complaint response said it is the licence holder’s responsibility to ensure they have necessary documentation to support their application. Licensing Officers told Mr X his safeguarding certificate was due to expire in April and explained the date was in the American format. Officers asked Mr X to book the next course so it could renew his licence. The Council also made reasonable adjustments to validate Mr X's application without Mr X attending the training.

Analysis

27. The Council’s policy states it is up to the driver to ensure they renew their licence before it expires and explains how to do this. This information is available online, was accessible to Mr X and re-enforced by general email reminders and specific correspondence. Information and advice was available to Mr X. He did not follow it. The Council cannot be at fault.
28. An existing taxi driver must attend refresher safeguarding training every three years and submit their certificate as part of the renewal application. Mr X applied to renew his licence in June and believed his training certificate was due to expire in August. He therefore did not consider he needed to attend the training as he still had a valid certificate. Mr X’s certificate expired in April. The Council told Mr X his certificate expired and said he needed to book the next available course so it could renew his licence. Mr X did not take this advice and booked a course in November instead. This did not comply with the Council’s renewal policy, so it did not renew his licence at this stage. The Council are not at fault.
29. Safeguarding courses run every month. In June, the Council asked Mr X to book the next available course. Mr X booked on the course in November. There were four courses available to Mr X before the date he booked. He did not give any reasons why he could not book an earlier course. If Mr X was correct and his certificate expired in August, he still needed to book on the course by this date. He did not. By booking the training in November, this left a three-month period from August or a seven-month period from April, where he did not have the necessary training. Mr X did not meet the requirements for the Council to issue him a new licence when his previous one expired. The Council is not at fault.
30. Mr X believes he attended the safeguarding training on 4 August 2019. This is because the date on his certificate is written “-4/08/2019”. The Council said Mr X attended the training on 8 April and explained the date on the certificate used the American format. In response to my enquiries, the Council presented evidence that it updated Mr X’s records on 9 April showing he attended training the previous day. They also sent a list of dates when the training was held. The 8 April is on the list. The 4 August is not. I am satisfied the evidence shows Mr X attended the training on 8 April 2019 and was due to attend refresher training as part of his application to renew his licence.
31. The Council was aware the format of the date on Mr X’s safeguarding certificate caused initial confusion and partly upheld Mr X’s complaint because of this. It apologised to Mr X and changed the formatting of the certificates so this will not happen again in the future. It also considered these were exceptional circumstances, exercised its discretion and accepted Mr X’s application on the understanding he completed the training in November. It did not have to do this, but made reasonable adjustments to help Mr X. This is a suitable remedy to Mr X’s complaint.
32. Within two days of validating Mr X’s application, the Council granted Mr X his renewal licence. This is within the policy requirements which says the Council will grant a licence within ten working days. The Council is not at fault.

Conclusion

33. The original certificate used the American date format which was misleading. However, I do not consider this serious enough to be fault. In any case, this was remedied by the Council when it explained the dates to Mr X and gave him several opportunities to complete the refresher training, enabling him to complete his renewal application and get a new licence before his old one expired. He did not. This is not the Council’s fault.

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Final decision

34. I have complete my investigation. While the date on the certificate was misleading, the Council clarified this to Mr X and explained how he could renew his licence on time and continue to drive his taxi. The Council is not at fault.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman