Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council has dealt planning enforcement issues on land next to Mr X’s home. This is because parts of the complaint are late and there is no good reason to investigate now. There is also no evidence of fault in how the Council is dealing with current enforcement issues.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council has failed to deal with a number of planning issues on land near his home. He says the Council has failed to control development and this has caused him significant distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
3. 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

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

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My assessment

6. Most of the issues Mr X complains of relate to development which dates back to 2018. Therefore these are late complaints and we cannot investigate them.
7. We have the power to disapply this restriction where there are good reasons. However I cannot see any reason why Mr X could not have complained sooner if he was concerned about unauthorised development on land next to his home.
8. The Council has said it is investigating a possible breach of planning in relation to a container being sited on land near her home. The Council is actively dealing with this. Mr X is unhappy with a lack of updates from the Council. However the Council’s enforcement policy says it will only provide updates when key decisions are taken or when the matter is closed. Therefore there is no evidence of fault in how the Council has dealt with this matter to date and we will not investigate.
9. Mr X may make a further complaint to the Ombudsman if he is unhappy with the outcome of any enforcement investigation carried out by the Council.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because parts of the complaint are late and there are no good reasons to investigate now. We will also no investigate the Council’s actions in relation to current enforcement action as there is no evidence of fault in how the Council has dealt with this matter to date.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman