Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s planning enforcement decision. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to justify us investigating.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about the Council’s planning enforcement decision concerning her neighbour’s property. She says the Council wrongfully closed the case without a reasoned assessment and provided inconsistent information about the Use Class of the property. She also complains about the Council’s handling of her complaint.

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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’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), section 34(B))

3. We will not usually investigate complaint handling if we are not investigating the rest of the complaint. This is because there is not usually enough injustice to justify us doing so. We collect information about particularly poor complaint handling practice and report this back to organisations. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), section 34B(8))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mrs X.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Planning authorities may take enforcement action where there has been a breach of planning control. A breach of planning control may occur where there has been a change of use without planning permission. It is up to the Council’s discretion whether it will take enforcement action in the circumstances.
7. Planning enforcement action is subject to statutory time limits. Since 25 April 2024, breaches of planning control are immune from enforcement if no action is taken within 10 years of any breach of planning control.
8. The Council acknowledged there was a change of use at her neighbour’s property. However, as this occurred over ten years ago, it had become lawful by the passage of time. This position is in line with planning law. There is not enough evidence of fault on this point to justify us investigating.
9. The Council was also satisfied the property’s current use was not a material change from the previous use which was already immune from enforcement. It therefore determined that planning permission was not beneficial in the circumstances.
10. Whether a change of use has occurred is a matter of fact and degree and for the Council to decide. The Council has provided adequate reasons for why the current use is not a material change from its prior use. There is therefore not enough evidence of fault on this point to justify us investigating.
11. The Council clarified any inconsistencies about the Use Class in its complaint response. The fact this may have changed throughout its consideration of the matter does not make its assessment flawed. There is not enough evidence of fault in how the Council made its decision to justify us investigating.

Complaint handling

12. As a publicly funded body we must be careful with how we use our resources. As paragraph three says, we do not normally investigate complaint handling where we are not investigating the rest of the matter. This is because it is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaint handling in isolation and there is usually not enough injustice to justify us doing so.
13. In any event, the Council has acknowledged and apologised for delay in the complaint handling process. It has also addressed other concerns Mrs X raised about the complaint handling process, including her concerns about independence. The Council has taken appropriate action and further investigation by us would not lead to a different outcome. Any shortcomings in the Council’s complaint handling would also not affect the outcome of its planning enforcement decision.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault in how the Council made its planning enforcement decision. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate the complaint handling in isolation, and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome in any event.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman