Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about delay by the Council in processing his private hire vehicle licence renewal application. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council and the courts are better placed to decide if Mr X is entitled to compensation for loss of earnings.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council took too long to process his private hire vehicle licence renewal application. He says that as a result he suffered financial loss. He would like the Council to reimburse him for his loss and refund his application fee of £205.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

4. The Council took 17 working days to process Mr X’s licence renewal application; Mr X considers it should have completed the process in 10 working days. But this is not itself evidence of fault.
5. The Council’s website and its renewal letter both state “Applications take at least 10 working days to be processed and for us to send your licence in the post” but this is not a guarantee all applications will be processed within 10 working days. The Council took seven working days more to complete the renewal process and send Mr X his new vehicle licence but it is unlikely we would find fault in this. It is also unlikely we could say it caused Mr X significant injustice.
6. This is because applications to renewal vehicle licences can be made up to six weeks before the expiry of the existing application and the Council had no control over when Mr X chose to submit his application. Had he done so sooner, he may have received his new vehicle licence before his old one expired.
7. The injustice Mr X claims relates to lost earnings and this is not something we can remedy in the circumstances. If Mr X wishes to make a claim against the Council the courts are better placed to determine whether he is entitled to compensation and how much to award.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council and the courts are better placed to determine if Mr X is entitled to compensation for loss of earnings.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman