Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with breaches of planning control. This is because the complainant has appealed, or could have appealed, to the Planning Inspector.

The complaint

1. Ms X has complained about the Council’s decision to take enforcement action against her. Ms X says the Council did not follow the correct process and issued the enforcement notices while negotiations were still ongoing. Ms X says the notices contained errors and the Council failed to consider the consequences of enforcement action.

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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 cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a government minister. The Planning Inspector acts on behalf of a government minister. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(b), as amended)
4. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a government minister. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(b), as amended)
5. The courts have said we can decide not to investigate a complaint about any action by an organisation concerning a matter which the law says we cannot investigate. (R (on the application of M) v Commissioner for Local Administration [2006] EHWCC 2847 (Admin))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

8. Ms X has complained about the Council’s decision to take enforcement action against her. However, Ms X used her right to appeal to the Planning Inspector against one of the enforcement notices issued by the Council. The Ombudsman cannot investigate matters where someone has already used their appeal right.
9. Ms X has also complained about the Council’s enforcement investigation. She says the Council issued the notices while negotiations were still ongoing, and it did not consider the consequences of enforcement action. However, I consider these issues related to the enforcement notice which has been appealed and the Ombudsman will not investigate when someone has appealed to the Planning Inspector. I understand some of the issues raised by Ms X may not be addressed by the appeal. However, we will not investigate matters if the substantive issue complained about is outside our jurisdiction.
10. I also consider it would have been reasonable for Ms X to have used her right to appeal to the Planning Inspector against the second enforcement notice. Ms X says she did not appeal the notice as it looked identical to the first and she was not aware two separate enforcement notices had been issued. However, while the notices looked similar, it is clear under the description of the breach that the notices related to separate issues and there were different requirements to comply with each notice.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because she has appealed, or could have appealed, to the Planning Inspector.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman