Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council failing to take planning enforcement action against a wall built near the complainant's house. It is reasonable to expect the complainant to have contacted us sooner, the alleged fault has not caused the complainant a significant personal injustice, and we cannot achieve the main outcome she is seeking.

The complaint

1. Mrs X says the Council has failed to take planning enforcement action against a wall which has not been completed in accordance with the approved plans. She says she is heartbroken at having to look out of her windows at the ugly, over-sized construction.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We can investigate 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. So, we do not start an investigation if we decide:

• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

4. But 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)
5. And we cannot investigate complaints from public bodies, such as Parish Councils. (Local Government Act 1974, section 27(1)(a), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered:
• information provided by Mrs X and the Council, which included the Council’s complaint responses.
• information about the neighbour’s planning application on the Council’s website.
• the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. The time restriction detailed in paragraph 4 above appears to apply to Mrs X’s complaint. This is because the wall was completed by early 2020, yet Mrs X did not contact the Ombudsman until November 2023. Even taking into account the difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, I see no reasons why Mrs X was prevented from contacting us sooner if she felt the Council had delayed taking action against the wall. We will therefore not investigate any issues which Mrs X has been aware of for more than 12-months.
8. And even if this time restriction did not apply to the complaint, we do not start an investigation if we decide the impact of the alleged fault on the complainant is not so significant that we should investigate. This means we will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures by the Council.
9. I can understand why Mrs X is unhappy about the appearance of the wall and its impact on the character of the area. But, on balance, I am not persuaded the personal injustice to Mrs X is significant enough for us to pursue the complaint further.
10. We also would not be able to achieve the main outcome Mrs X is seeking, as we cannot direct the Council to take formal enforcement action against the wall. It is for the Council to decide whether it is expedient to pursue such action.
11. Finally, and with reference to paragraph 5, we cannot consider any parts of the complaint made on behalf of the Parish Council about changes to the planning enforcement updates it receives from the District Council.

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Final decision

We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is reasonable to expect her to have contacted us sooner, the alleged fault has not caused her a significant injustice, and we cannot achieve the main outcome she is seeking.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman