Summary: We will not investigate the Council’s response to Mr X’s complaints about his neighbour’s building works. This is because the complaint is late.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council’s decision not to take enforcement action against his neighbour who he says has breached planning controls. Mr X says this has caused him stress.
2. Mr X would like the Council to review its decisions, take enforcement action against his neighbour, waive his Council tax and replace its staff with artificial intelligence.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
4. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
5. 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 how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. The documents suggest the Council told Mr X it would not take enforcement action against a breach of planning control in February 2022 or earlier. Mr X did not complain to us within 12 months of this decision and there is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate.
9. Further and in any event, I will not investigate because there is not enough evidence of fault.
10. Planning enforcement action is discretionary; councils may decide to take formal action, informal action or no action at all.
11. The Council found a breach but decided not to take enforcement action due to the lack of planning harm. Mr X said it took account of incorrect information, however the Council confirmed it had the correct information following a site visit. I will not investigate because there is no evidence of fault in the Council’s decision making.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaints because the complaint is late and there is not enough evidence of fault in the way the Council reached its decisions.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman