Summary: We will not investigate exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to prevent noise and disturbance from a neighbouring hotel. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council’s failure to take action over a small hotel near his home which he says is a source of noise and disturbance. He says the hotel should never have received planning approval in its location and that the owners may be breaching licensing and planning regulations. He asked the Council to close down the hotel.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered the information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X says he has bene disturbed by noise from a nearby hotel for a number of years and that the Council should take action to close it down.
6. He complained to the Council in July 2022 and received responses including from a councillor which confirmed that the nearest hotel extension had planning approval since 2017 and this was not a planning matter. Enquiries were being made following Mr X’s first complaint about the licensing status of the property.
7. Mr X told the Council in September 2022 that he would submit a complaint to the LGSCO if he did not receive a satisfactory response. He did not complain to us until January 2024 which is outside the 12-month period for receiving complaints. The time for receiving complaints is from when someone became aware of the matter they wish to complain about, not when they complained to the Council or it issued its final response. We would expect someone to complain to us within a year, even if they were dissatisfied with the time the complaints procedure was taking.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to prevent noise and disturbance from a neighbouring hotel. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman