Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to take planning enforcement action against him. This is because the complaint is late, and Mr X has exercised the legal remedy available to him. The complaint is therefore outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction with no discretion to investigate.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council’s decision to take planning enforcement action against him.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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)
4. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)
5. The Courts have said that we cannot investigate a complaint about any action by a council, concerning a matter which is itself out of our jurisdiction. (R (on the application of M) v Commissioner for Local Administration [2006] EHWCC 2847 (Admin))

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered Mr X’s complaint to the Ombudsman and the information he provided. I also gave Mr X the opportunity to comment on a draft statement before reaching a final decision on his complaint.

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What I found

7. Mr X’s complaint is about events dating to 2013 - when the Council issued Mr X with a planning enforcement notice relating to his business premises. Mr X says that in 2015, the Council persuaded him not to appeal the enforcement notice, but it then prosecuted him in 2017. Mr X says this affected his business and led to jobs being lost. Mr X successfully appealed the Council’s decision to prosecute in the Crown Court. The Council unsuccessfully appealed this decision to the Court of Appeal.
8. The exception at paragraph 3 applies to Mr X’s complaint. The Ombudsman normally expects people to complain to us within twelve months of them becoming aware of a problem. We look at each complaint individually, and on its merits, considering the circumstances of each case. But we do not exercise discretion to accept a late complaint unless there are clear and compelling reasons to do so. I do not consider that to be the case here. I see no reason why Mr X could not have complained much earlier.
9. But even if Mr X’s complaint was not late, it is not one the Ombudsman could consider. The focus of the court proceedings referred to above was the decision to prosecute Mr X for failing to comply with the enforcement notice. The Court ruled in Mr X’s favour. Mr X has therefore had a remedy for his complaint, even if he does not consider it to be a complete remedy for his claimed injustice. The courts have decided where that is the case, the Ombudsman has no discretion to consider the matter further.

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Final decision

10. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. The complaint is late, and we cannot investigate matters which have been subject to court action.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman