Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council refuses to act against a business which the complainant says is breaching the conditions on a pavement licence. We have not seen evidence of fault in the way the Council responded to the complaints.

The complaint

1. The complainant, I shall call B, says the Council:
• should not have granted a pavement licence to the café next door to their home
• failed to act following their reports the café is breaching the licence conditions; and
• failed to act on the reports the café is breaching social distancing rules
• failed to act on reports of noise

They want the pavement license revoked.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A (6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. In response to B’s complaints the Council confirms it has:
• made unannounced visits to the café and found no breaches of the license and is satisfied it is working in a Covid safe manner
• advised B what evidence it requires to consider a noise complaint – he has declined to progress the matter
• received no reports of concern from either the Police or the Highways Authority about parking or highway safety matters
6. We cannot question the merits of a decision on whether the café is breaching the pavement license conditions unless there is evidence of fault in the way it was reached.
7. In this case, different officers from the Council’s environmental health team and licensing team. Officers from the Highways Authority have also visited the site. They reached a professional judgement that there was no breach of the licence conditions or Covid regulations. This is the process we would expect to see before the Council makes a decision on whether the pavement license has been breached. I can see no fault in the way this decision was reached.

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Final decision

8. I will not investigate this complaint. This is because it does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman