The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council requesting additional fees for a licence. The claimed injustice is not significant enough to warrant our involvement.
The complaint
Mr X complained the Council contacted him to request an additional £90 to complete a renewal of his house in multiple occupation (HMO) licence. Mr X also said the Council were threatening towards him.
Mr X said this has caused him stress and requests a refund of £90.
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 any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (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.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X complained the Council contacted him to request an additional £90 to complete renewal of his HMO licence. Mr X said the Council threatened him with criminal prosecution and fines if he did not make payment.
Upon review of the available evidence, the Council contacted Mr X to advise the additional £90 was due because he had been charged the incorrect fee. The Council said this was due a system error which meant the system applied and charged Mr X a lower fee, meant for smaller HMO’s.
In its correspondence, the Council told Mr X if he did not pay this amount, the application would be considered no longer duly made. This would mean Mr X may be operating an unlicenced property and therefore it informed him of the potential enforcement action if this happened. The Council said this is a standard process.
On balance, I do not believe Mr X’s claimed injustice is significant enough to warrant an Ombudsman investigation and therefore we will not investigate.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the claimed injustice is not significant enough to warrant our involvement.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman