Summary: Mr C complained the Council failed to comply with a recommendation we made after our previous investigation of a complaint he made to us. There was fault by the Council. It did not comply with our recommended action which it agreed to. Because of the fault, Mr C suffered distress and frustration. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mr C, make a symbolic payment, provide updates to Mr C, arrange a direct point of contact and issue a staff briefing.

The complaint

1. We previously investigated a complaint Mr C made about the Council. We recommended the Council write to Mr C with updates every four weeks about its planning enforcement action on plots of land near Mr C’s home. Mr C complains the Council has not complied with this recommendation.
2. Mr C says the Council’s lack of updates has caused further distress and anxiety. He would like the Council to comply with our previous recommendation without delay.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(1), as amended)

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What I have and have not investigated

5. I have investigated matters in this case from February 2025, when we made our final decision on Mr C’s previous complaint.
6. I have investigated Mr C’s complaint about the Council’s failure to comply with our recommendation made on the final decision on his previous complaint.
7. I have not investigated any matters relating to planning enforcement action the Council has or has not taken on the plots of land since our investigation of Mr C’s previous complaint. That is a separate matter, and one which the Council has not had the opportunity to respond to. We are unable to consider a complaint where the Council has not had the opportunity to consider matters first. If Mr C is dissatisfied with the level of enforcement action the Council has taken on the plots of land since our previous investigation, he may bring a complaint about this to us after he has exhausted the Council’s complaint procedure.

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How I considered this complaint

8. I read Mr C’s complaint and spoke to him about it on the phone.
9. I considered evidence provided by Mr C and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
10. Mr C and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What happened

11. This is a summary of events outlining key facts and it does not cover everything that has happened in this case.
12. We completed our investigation of Mr C’s previous complaint in February 2025. The Council agreed with our recommendation to write to Mr C with updates about enforcement action on four of the plots of land his complaint related to. The Council agreed to provide the updates to Mr C every four weeks, from the date of our final decision made in February 2025.
13. The last update the Council sent Mr C was in June 2025. Mr C chased an update from the Council in July 2025 and August 2025. The Council told Mr C it had received his comments and would consider them, but it did not respond further to Mr C. Mr C contacted us in October 2025 about the Council’s lack of updates.

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Analysis

14. If the Council did not consider the recommendation to be realistic during our previous investigation, it could have told us this. But as outlined above in paragraph 12, the Council agreed to our recommendation. So, it should have complied with it. As such, the failure to do so was fault. This caused further distress and frustration to Mr C.
15. I asked the Council why it has not sent Mr C updates about its enforcement action every four weeks as it had agreed to do. The Council told me it acknowledges and accepts it has failed to comply with our recommendation and confirmed it has not issued an update to Mr C since June 2025. It says the reason it has failed to comply with the recommendation is due to internal workload pressures and competing priorities, although it recognises this is not acceptable. The Council also provided assurance the absence of regular updates does not reflect a lack of progress on enforcement action.
16. To remedy the injustice caused by its fault, the Council has offered to:
• Apologise to Mr C in writing with confirmation of its commitment to comply with the recommendation going forward.
• Pay Mr C a £300 symbolic payment.
• Provide a full update to Mr C, and thereafter every four weeks until all enforcement action matters are resolved.
• Allocate a named officer who will act as Mr C’s point of contact.
17. The actions the Council proposes to take are appropriate to acknowledge the distress and frustration caused to Mr C by the Council’s failure to comply with our recommendation. In addition, I have made a service improvement recommendation.

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Action

18. As above, to remedy the outstanding injustice caused to Mr C by the fault I have identified, the Council will take the following actions it has suggested to us, within four weeks of my final decision:
• Apologise to Mr C for the injustice caused by the Council’s failure to comply with our recommendation. This apology should be in line with our guidance Making an effective apology.
• Pay Mr C £300 to acknowledge the distress and frustration caused by the identified fault.
• Write to Mr C with an update about enforcement action on plots one, three, four and six. Going forward, the Council will provide Mr C with an update every four weeks until enforcement action matters are resolved. Where matters are passed to other departments within the Council for action to be taken, this includes updates about what these departments are doing.
• Allocate a named officer who will act as Mr C’s point of contact.
19. Within three months, the Council will also remind relevant staff of the importance of complying with recommendations made by us as a result of our investigations which the Council has agreed to.
20. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

21. I uphold Mr C’s complaint and find fault causing injustice. The Council has agreed actions to remedy injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman