Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of a planning enforcement case. This is because it is unlikely we would find fault in the Council’s decision not to take action to remove the unauthorised development.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains about the Council’s decision not to take enforcement action against his neighbour for carrying out unauthorised development in their garden.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I reviewed Mr X’s complaint and the Council’s response. I shared my draft decision with Mr X and invited his comments.

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What I found

4. Mr X complained to the Council about his neighbour’s outbuilding which was constructed without planning permission. The Council confirmed the outbuilding required planning permission but decided it would not be expedient to take formal enforcement action. Mr X complains about the Council’s decision and wants the Council to remove the outbuilding.
5. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. Where there is a breach of planning control the Council must consider whether to take formal enforcement action but it is under no duty or obligation to do so in every case. The Council should only take action where it considers it expedient to do so and whether it is expedient is a matter of professional judgement for the Council’s trained officers to decide.
6. The law does not allow us to criticise the Council’s judgement unless there is evidence of fault in the way a decision was made, but I have seen no evidence to suggest there was fault in this case. The Council’s decision is based on clear rationale and we cannot say the Council must take action to remove the neighbour’s outbuilding, against its judgement, as Mr X would like.

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Final decision

7. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is unlikely we would find fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman