Buckinghamshire Council (25 008 187)
Category : Environment and regulation > Licensing
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 27 Oct 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of a licensing hearing. This is because it would be reasonable for Mr X to appeal the Council’s decision so the law says we should not investigate.
The complaint
- Mr X complains about how the Council handled a licensing hearing at which he made representations. He says the Council’s legal advisor made comments to the applicant during the hearing which he believes compromised the fairness of the process and affected the outcome. He says the matter has caused him significant upset and concern about the integrity of the hearing.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X.
- I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X commented on an application to extend a licence. During the hearing, a Council officer told the applicant they did not have to provide answers to Mr X’s questions if it might incriminate them. Mr X believes this interfered with the integrity of the hearing and affected the outcome.
- Although Mr X describes his concerns as being about what happened during the application hearing, any material injustice he claims stems from the decision to approve the licence, namely the result rather than the hearing process. If the Council had refused the licence, Mr X would have had no reason to complain.
- Paragraph 2 in Part 1, Schedule 5 of the Licensing Act 2003 says a person who made relevant representations in relation to an application may appeal to a magistrates’ court against the Council’s licensing decision. It would be reasonable for Mr X to take the matter to court because he is aggrieved by the decision to grant the licence, which only the court can overturn.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it was reasonable for him to appeal against the Council’s decision in court.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman