LGO criticises council after taxi licensing policy created backlog of applications

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGO) has criticised a local authority over delays in dealing with licensing applications.

The LGO said Rossendale Borough Council’s former licensing policy meant it received a high volume of out-of-area applications and its taxi licensing team was unable to cope.

The Ombudsman’s investigation came about after it received a complaint from the father of a woman who could not work for nearly four months while she waited for her paperwork.

The woman had already secured a job with a local firm, but could not work until she had the correct documents.

The LGO concluded that the length of time the council took to process the woman’s application did not amount to good administrative practice.

There was no suggestion the delay in issuing the woman’s licence was for any legitimate reason, it added.

Rossendale told the Ombudsman that the backlog was due to a significant increase in the number of new applicants, particularly from outside its area.

The local authority has since allocated more staff to its licensing unit and has also introduced pre-requisite assessments and policies for those not intending to use their licence within the borough’s boundaries.

The Ombudsman recommended that, to remedy the situation, Rossendale should pay the complainant’s daughter £350 in recognition of the uncertainty and time and trouble she had been put to.

The LGO said the council should also:

  • identify and review any other complaints received about delays in processing taxi licence applications under its previous policy;
  • identify any other applicants in a similar position to this case who are able to show they suffered a significant injustice and consider how it should remedy this.

Michael King, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said: “While I recognise councils need to go through the proper process and carry out the relevant safety checks before awarding licences, I consider the time taken in this case to be overly long.

“The council should have foreseen that its decision not to place restrictions on drivers from outside the borough applying for licences would have had an effect on the volume of applications it received. It should have allocated sufficient resources to deal with the demand earlier.

“I am pleased to see that the council has now put in place measures to prevent the situation reoccurring, however I would now urge the council to consider and implement the remedy I have recommended.”