Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of planning and building control matters which date back a number of years. This is because the complaint is a late complaint and so falls outside our jurisdiction to investigate.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains that due to the actions of the Council’s Planning and Building Control Services his health has been affected, his property devalued and the neighbourhood, community and country’s heritage damaged.

Back to top

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 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 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. We do not start or continue 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, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint, or
• it would be reasonable for the person to ask for a council review or appeal; or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

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

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council, including its response to his complaint.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

Back to top

My assessment

7. Mr X recently complained to the Council about building control and planning matters which dated back to 2019 and which the Council told him it had previously addressed.
8. The restriction highlighted at paragraph 3 applies to Mr X’s complaint about these past matters and I see no grounds which warrant investigating them now.
9. In responding to our initial enquiries, the Council confirmed that while Mr X had also made a complaint against its Environmental Health Team, it had been unable to obtain from Mr X the complaint terms of reference or any evidence to support claims he had made of financial impropriety. It says its consideration of reports by Mr X of a noise nuisance is still ongoing.
10. It is open to Mr X to clarify his complaint against the Environmental Health Team with the Council and to provide any evidence to it he has to support his claims of impropriety. If, at the end of the Council’s consideration of his reports of noise nuisance, he remains dissatisfied with the outcome, he can complain to us once he has completed the Council’s own complaints procedure about the matter.

Back to top

Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the complaint is a late complaint and so falls outside our jurisdiction.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman