The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that Mr X received unfair and biased behaviour from an officer working in the Council’s Licensing Team. This is because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
Mr X complains an officer in the Council’s Licensing Team has been unfair and biased against him because of his race and that this has resulted in warning points on his taxi licence so that he cannot work.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council, including its response to the complaint.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X complained to the Council that it had been biased against him in deciding to issue warnings against him and in placing warning points against his taxi licence.
At Stage 1 of its complaints procedure the Council explained that there had been a number of issues in the last year which had resulted in the warnings being issued to him, including driving an unsafe vehicle. It told him his licence would be referred to the Licensing Committee for consideration but it had found no evidence to support his claim it had been biased towards him or that he had been discriminated against because of his race.
At Stage 2 the Council pointed out to Mr X that the matters had been reported to it from various sources and were not the result of actions by officers seeking out non-compliance. It also said different officers had been involved in dealing with the various matters and there was no evidence that one officer had targeted him. It confirmed it took claims of racial discrimination seriously but that it had received no evidence to support his claims. However, it said it would investigate further if evidence was provided.
We do not investigate every complaint we receive. Mr X claims he has been discriminated against and targeted by a named officer. However, he has provided no evidence to the Council to support this claim. If he has any, he can submit this to the Council for its consideration. As there is no evidence to suggest fault by the Council, we will not investigate the complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman