Summary: We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s failure to follow the proper process in issuing him a planning enforcement notice. This is because Mr X has used his right of appeal to the Planning Inspector.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council issued him an enforcement notice for an alleged breach of planning control without any prior contact. Mr X appealed against the enforcement notice and the Planning Inspector found in his favour. He made a claim for costs, which the Inspector awarded against the Council, but he believes the Council should pay him between £9-10,000 more to settle the matter.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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’.
3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a government minister. We may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal but cannot investigate if the person has already appealed. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(b), as amended)
5. The Planning Inspector acts on behalf of the responsible Government minister. The Planning Inspector considers appeals about planning enforcement notices.

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. Because Mr X has used his right of appeal against the enforcement notice we cannot investigate any complaint about the Council’s issue of the notice. We also cannot provide a remedy for any impact the enforcement notice had on Mr X.
8. Mr X made a claim for costs to the Planning Inspector as part of his appeal and he confirms he has now received a reimbursement from the Council for his consultant’s fees. If Mr X felt he was entitled to further costs, including for the time he spent dealing with the matter, he should have included these in his claim to the Planning Inspector.

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Final decision

9. We cannot investigate this complaint. This is because Mr X has appealed against the enforcement notice to the Planning Inspector.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman