Summary: Ms X complains about the Council’s failure to take enforcement action against a neighbouring property. We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient personal injustice to Ms X to warrant investigation by the Ombudsman.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains about the Council’s failure to take enforcement action against a neighbouring property.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate something that affects all or most of the people in a council’s area. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(7), as amended)
3. 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.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have considered the comments of the complainant and the Council and the complainant was given an opportunity to comment on the draft decision.

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What I found

5. Ms X says that a property on her road was built without planning permission and the Council has failed to take enforcement action against the owner.
6. Ms X lives some doors down from the property and her amenity is not affected by the building itself. Any loss of council tax income affects all the residents in the area and is therefore out of jurisdiction for the reason given in paragraph two above.
7. I note that Ms X says that the owners park illegally. However, this is a criminal matter for the police.
8. The Ombudsman could consider a complaint from an immediate neighbour if their amenity has been affected significantly by the building.

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Final decision

9. I do not intend to investigate this complaint because there is insufficient personal injustice caused to Ms X to warrant investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman