Summary: Mr X complains about the way the Council treated his request for pavement advertising and seating for his business. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because he could appeal to the magistrates about a refusal to issue a licence.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the way the Council treated his request for pavement advertising and seating for his business.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I have considered the comments of the complainant and the Council and the complainant has had an opportunity to comment on the draft decision.,

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What I found

4. Mr X runs a shop which he wishes to extend to a café with outdoor seating and advertising. He is unhappy about the way the Council dealt with his licence application. He is also unhappy with threats of highway enforcement by the Council and a Council employee’s comments on social media.
5. Mr X made a licence application for a pavement café in June 2019. A Council officer visited and advised Mr X that the licence application would likely fail as the cleaning facilities were not adequate. The Council says he withdrew his licence application. It also says that the A Boards used by Mr X were then secured to the frontage thereby avoiding highways enforcement action.
6. Any dispute about a licence application can be appealed to a magistrate’s court and so is out of jurisdiction.
7. Any comments on social media which Mr X regards as defamatory are matters for the court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman