Summary: Ms X complains about the Council’s failure to take planning enforcement action against a neighbour’s decking and summer house. We will not investigate this complaint because there is no evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains about the Council’s failure to take planning enforcement action against a neighbour’s decking and summer house.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
5. I considered the complainant’s comments on my draft decision.

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My assessment

6. Ms X first complained to the Council in 2017 about a neighbour’s summer house and decking. She made a formal complaint in March 2021.
7. The Council initially was unable to investigate the matter due to limited resources but a Planning Officer responded in May 2021 advising that, following a visit to the site, there was no significant loss of privacy from the development as there was a large gap between the two houses and fence boundaries were not directly next to each other. The Planning Officer also noted that the development had been there some years. No planning enforcement action could be taken where the development existed for more than four years.
8. The Planning Officer visited and saw for herself the impact of the development upon Ms X’s privacy. She also had the benefit of her photographs and those supplied by Ms X. I am satisfied therefore that there was no administrative fault in the way the decision not to take action had been made. Ms X's dissatisfaction lies with the merits of the Council's decision but, in the absence of fault, the Ombudsman cannot criticise the Council's decision.

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Final decision

9. I do not intend to investigate this complaint because there is no evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman