Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council failing to take planning enforcement against building works near the complainant’s property. Part of the complaint is late, there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council in relation to a recently constructed wall, and we will not look at the associated concerns about complaint handling in isolation.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about the Council failing to take planning enforcement action against building works near her home, and its lack of response to her associated communications about these matters.

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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:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

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

4. And 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. Finally, it is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

8. The 12-month time restriction detailed in paragraph 4 above would appear to apply to any parts of the complaint about the planning application for, and the construction of, the new building. This is because I understand the building was erected and occupied by 2016, yet Mrs X did not contact the Ombudsman until August 2024. I see no good reasons to exercise discretion to investigate any such matters now.
9. I understand a boundary wall constructed more recently was done so under permitted development rights. The Council would therefore have no power to take planning enforcement action against it. If Mrs X believes the wall encroaches on to her property, then that would be a private, civil matter between her and the person who built the wall.
10. As we are not investigating the substantive planning and enforcement issues at the heart of the complaint, it would not be a good use of our resources to investigate the Council’s alleged lack of response to Mrs X’s associated enquiries/complaints in isolation.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because part of it is late, there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council in relation to her concerns about a wall, and we will not look at her concerns about the associated complaint process in isolation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman