The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision not to renew Mr X’s temporary street trader’s licence. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.
The complaint
Mr X complained that the Council’s officers harassed him and refused to renew his street trader’s licence because of complaints he made about them.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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 the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended) 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 could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or further investigation would not lead to a different outcome (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
Mr X says the Council refused to re-issue his temporary street trader’s licence which he has operated for several years. As a result, his family has faced loss of income and poverty. He says the Council’s officers harassed against him because he made previous complaints and allegations about their conduct.
The Council told Mr X that his licence was not renewed because it had received information from its Fraud Section concerning a fraudulent application for a Covid-19 grant in 2021. The Council has discretionary powers to grant street trading licences. It considered that his past history rendered him to not be a fit and proper person to receive a licence.
When considering complaints, we may not question the merits of the decision the Council has made or offer any opinion on whether or not we agree with the judgment of the Councils’ officers or members. Instead, we focus on the process by which the decision was made. In this case the Council had received information which persuaded it to refuse a further licence. This was decided under the terms of the Standard Street Trading Licence Conditions (2021) which are regulations issued by the Council under the London Local Authorities Act 1990.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision not to renew Mr X’s temporary street trader’s licence. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman