Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of a planning enforcement matter. This is because it is unlikely we could achieve anything for Mr X at present.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council has failed to take enforcement action against a nearby property-owner for breaches of planning control.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• the Council has taken, or proposes to take, suitable action to deal with the issue.

(Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 24A(7), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I reviewed Mr X’s complaint and discussed the case with him. I made enquiries of the Council and considered its response. I shared my draft decision with Mr X and his representative and invited their comments.

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What I found

4. Mr X has reported possible breaches of planning control by a neighbouring property-owner. He says the Council has told him it does not have sufficient resources to enforce the breaches and he is concerned about living conditions and safety hazards for local residents.
5. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. The Council has confirmed it has an open enforcement case to deal with the breaches of planning control by the property-owner but the property-owner has recently applied for planning permission to regularise the development and it cannot reasonably take formal action until this application is determined. It says it has not reached a decision on formal enforcement action and has not declined to act on the basis of a lack of resources.
6. While the Council considers the application and the enforcement case there is nothing further we could achieve for Mr X. The Council has confirmed it will consult Mr X and other residents affected/concerned by the development as part of the application process and that it intends to determine the application shortly.
7. If, once the Council has determined the planning application, Mr X is unhappy with the way it handled the case he may complain to the Council again. The Council’s response should provide an update on the enforcement case and if Mr X is not happy with its progress he may raise a new complaint for us to consider. But it is unlikely we could achieve anything more for Mr X by investigating now.

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Final decision

8. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is unlikely we could achieve anything for Mr X by investigating his complaint now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman