Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision not to take enforcement action on a breach of planning control. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. The complainant has not suffered a significant personal injustice which warrants our involvement.

The complaint

1. The complainant, I shall call Mrs X, complains the Council has decided not to take enforcement action against a breach of planning control. She confirms this has not directly affected her but has caused her to lose faith in the Council.

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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 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 the information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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Final decision

5. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because we do not consider the Council’s actions have caused her sufficient personal injustice to justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman