Summary: We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s actions in relation to complaints about noise from a nearby restaurant. This complaint which 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 sufficient action over his complaints about noise from a nearby restaurant which plays loud music late at night for private functions. He says he has been complaining about this since 2019 and that the Council should take enforcement action to limit the noise emitted or restrict licence conditions.

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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’s response.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X says he has suffered from loud noise on evenings from a nearby restaurant on occasions since April 2019. He says the music can go on until after midnight when the premises obtains temporary event licenses for live music and the Council has failed to limit this.
6. Mr X has been aware of the noise issues since 2019 and made a formal complaint in July 2023 in which he stated he would compalint to the Ombudsman if the Council did not take action.
7. The legislation from which the Ombudsman takes her powers also places some restrictions on what we can investigate. One of these restrictions relates to complaints about matters which the complainant was aware of more than 12 months before they brought it to our attention. This restriction applies to Mr X’s complaint. He became aware of the problems from 2019 and did not complain to us within 12 months of that date or of his formal compalint to the Council in 2023.
8. 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. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner.

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Final decision

9. We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s actions in relation to complaints about noise from a nearby restaurant. This complaint which 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