Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about planning enforcement as the matter is out of time and there is no evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. Ms X says that the Council issued an enforcement notice against her landlord to remove tiles at the front of her flat but then decided not to pursue the matter.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. The block of flats in which Ms X lives had the tiles at the front of the building replaced in 2017. The Council considered a complaint in January 2021 and wrote to the owner pointing out that the panels were supposed to be red, rather than the black/grey tiles installed. No enforcement notice was issued.
7. The devloper said that, as they had been installed in 2017 they were immune from any enforcement action.
8. The Council says that they were satisfied with the information provided by the developer as to the date of installation and so no enforcement action could be taken. Further, the Council considers, after a site visit, that the colour of the tiles do not cause any significant harm to neighbouring amenity and so any enforcement action would not be warranted in any event.
9. Ms X is concerned about the safety of the tiles but this would be a matter for Building control; the planning condition related solely to the colour of the tiles.
10. Ms X was aware of the new tiles in 2017 and so could reasonably have made a complaint to this office within a year of this. The complaint is therefore out of time.
11. I am also satisfied that the Council’s consideration of enforcement action was without administrative fault and so there are no grounds to investigate further.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman