Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of a planning enforcement issue. This is because the Council has investigated the alleged breach and there is not enough evidence of fault in its actions to warrant further investigation. The planning enforcement case remains open and we could not achieve anything more for Mr X by investigating further.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains about the Council’s handling of a planning enforcement issue concerning his neighbour. He says breaches of planning control by his neighbour have restricted light to his property and reduced its value.

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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 effect 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 an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr X’s representative (Mr Y) and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Planning enforcement investigations take time and formal action is not immediate; the initial stages involve dialogue with the homeowner to try to avoid the need for formal action.
6. Mr X reported his concerns about his neighbour’s development in early 2024. The Council spoke to Mrs X and the neighbour, visited the site and confirmed the build was partially in breach of the approved plans. The case remains open and we could not therefore say the Council has failed to properly deal with the matter. We also cannot specify the steps it should take to address the breach.
7. While Mr X was the one who raised the matter with the Council the details of any formal planning enforcement action taken is often treated as confidential; Mr X is entitled to ask the Council what steps (if any) it has taken to deal with the breach and the Council will decide whether to release this information to him.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council and we could not achieve any worthwhile outcome for Mr X by investigating the matter further.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman