Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s delay in taking enforcement action on breaches of planning control on a caravan site near to where he lives. We have decided to end our investigation as it is unlikely to result in a finding of fault and there is no significant injustice to Mr X.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council’s delay in taking enforcement action on breaches of planning control on a caravan site near to where he lives.
2. Mr X says there is a large influx of people living on the site, who should not be there, which is impacting the local community.
3. Mr X says he has spent time chasing the Council for a satisfactory response and it has still not addressed the planning breaches. He worries the Council’s delay in taking enforcement action will set a precedent.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
5. 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, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different or meaningful outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

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

6. 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

7. I spoke to Mr X and I considered the documents he provided.
8. Mr X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Planning law and guidance

9. Councils have discretion to take enforcement action, when they consider it expedient to do so having regard to the development plan and any other material considerations.
10. It is for a council to decide whether it is expedient to take action: a council does not have to carry out enforcement action simply because the public wants or expects it to.
11. This is made clear in the Government’s National Planning Policy Framework which says:

“Effective enforcement is important to maintain public confidence in the planning system. Enforcement action is discretionary, and local planning authorities should act proportionately in responding to suspected breaches of planning control. They should consider publishing a local enforcement plan to manage enforcement proactively, in a way that is appropriate to their area. This should set out how they will monitor the implementation of planning permissions, investigate alleged cases of unauthorised development and take action where appropriate.”

Council’s Planning Enforcement

12. The Council publishes information about planning enforcement on its website. This says:
• Its power to take 'formal enforcement action' is discretionary, and only to be used when it is 'expedient' to do so. Government advice is that any action taken should be appropriate to the scale and impact of the unauthorised development.
• It must make a judgement in each case about the extent of how a development harms the amenities of nearby residents and the special qualities of the landscape and buildings in the area.
• It is not always possible to anticipate how a particular case will develop and the timescale for resolving a complaint can be difficult to predict.
• Investigating complaints is often complex and time consuming. In order to make most effective use of staff resources, it is usually necessary to give priority to those cases where the greatest or irreversible harm is being caused. The following is a guide to how cases are prioritised:
• Category A: unauthorised demolition, substantial or irreversible alterations to a listed building; unauthorised works to protected trees or trees within a conservation area; unauthorised demolition within a conservation area causing irreparable harm.
• Category B: unauthorised removal of protected landscaping features; minor alterations to a listed building; ongoing unauthorised engineering works; non-compliance with approved plans; breaches of planning conditions
• Category C: material change of use, for example a business is being operated from a dwelling; unauthorised development which is complete; adverts; satellite dishes; untidy land; any other breach of planning control

What happened

13. Mr X lives near to a local caravan site. In July 2019 Mr X reported to the Council, a breach of planning control on the caravan site. He said the site was allowing permanent residents, and their numbers were increasing.
14. He received his first response from the Council in September 2019 and continued to contact the Council until it sent an update in October 2020.
15. The Council said it found some issues with the site, including the occupancy, caravan numbers and caravan type. It wrote to the owners of the caravan site giving them nine months to address the issues.
16. Mr X waited nine months and contacted the Council again in the summer of 2021. He said the Council confirmed to him, the owner did not comply with its letter, and it would follow up with a final notice and enforcement action if needed.
17. The Council contacted Mr X in September explaining about staff shortages in the planning team. It said it was prioritising the most serious breaches of planning control, which were having a serious impact upon people’s lives and causing irreversible harm.
18. Mr X was unhappy with the Council’s response and complained. He said the breach of planning at the caravan site was not prioritised or dealt with properly. He expressed concern that if left unresolved it would become permanent and set a precedent.
19. The Council provided Mr X with its complaint response in October. It said:
• There were breaches of planning control on the site which were expedient to enforce but not a priority.
• There was limited harm in Mr X’s case as he was not experiencing any great personal detriment and the issues were reversible.
• The breach appeared to come and go as a result of the transient nature of the occupants.
• The case was not as urgent as others, and it directed Mr X to its website with information about grading complaints for breaches of planning.
20. Mr X was unhappy with the Council’s response and asked the Council to:
• provide evidence the breach comes and goes.
• show that over the last two years the Council only progressed planning cases of a higher priority.
• provide confirmation of when formal action would be taken.
21. The Council provided Mr X with its stage two complaint response. It explained if Mr X wanted information about the breaches, he could make a freedom of information request. It also said the Council planned to work through its backlog of cases as it had recruited new staff and would keep Mr X updated with its progress.
22. Unhappy with the Council’s response, Mr X referred his complaint to the Ombudsman in December 2021.
23. In comments on my draft decision Mrs X said, in summary:
24. By the Council not actioning non permitted development of the green belt there is now continuous habitation of a site and unrestricted development, with an influx of families into the village impacting on services including the school.
25. He followed the complaints process advised by the Council and saying the complaint should have been raised earlier does not reflect the process he went through.
26. The council has not explained why it has not taken action satisfactorily. It has acknowledged the breach and the impact of it so should have to explain why no action has been taken.

My findings

27. I will not investigate this complaint further and my reasons are as follows:
28. We have discretion to investigate late complaints in certain circumstances.
29. In Mr X’s case he complained to the Council in July 2019. The Council responded in 2020. If Mr X was unhappy with the Council’s delay at that point, I can see no reason he could not have brought his complaint to us then. I consider any complaint about the Council’s actions before December 2020 out of time and I see no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate.
30. Mr X says he followed the complaint process as advised by the Council. While he did so from September 2021, if he was unhappy with the Council’s response of October 2020, he could have complained to the Council and if needed, the Ombudsman then.
31. Mr X remains unhappy that the Council found a breach yet has still not taken enforcement action. I will not investigate this complaint because:
• there is not enough evidence of fault; the Council has explained why it has not yet taken action.
• any fault has not caused Mr X injustice or significant injustice; Mr X is not directly affected by any increased numbers on the site.
• further investigation would not lead to a different or meaningful outcome, and we cannot achieve the outcome Mr X wants; formal enforcement action is discretionary, and it is up to the Council how to exercise this discretion.
32. The Council provided an explanation to Mr X in its complaint response for any delay in action taken. I have nothing further to add to this.
33. While Mr X has commented on the impact of the increased numbers on the site, as stated above, Mr X himself has not been caused any significant injustice and this was considered when deciding whether to investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

34. I have ended my investigation because it is unlikely to result in a finding of fault and there is no significant injustice to Mr X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman