Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision not to take enforcement action against the owner of a listed building. We have not seen enough evidence of fault in the Council’s actions to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, I shall call Mr X, complains the Council has:
• failed to effectively manage a grade two (G2) listed building close to his home
• failed to enforce appropriate maintenance of the G2 listed building

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
3. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr X lives close to a G2 Listed Building. He contacted the Council 3 times between 2017 and 2021 about the condition of the building.
7. Each time the Council inspected the site. A different officer visited on a least 2 of the inspections. After each site visit the officers decided the condition of the property did not warrant formal enforcement action.
8. After the last inspection, Mr X contact the Council again. An Historic Environment Officer visited the site. The Council says they produced a detailed report on the building, its significance, and general observations.
9. An Enforcement Officer wrote to the building’s owner with the findings from the report. They advised the owner action that might be needed to avoid a breach of planning or listed building control.
10. It is for the Council to decide if there has been a breach of planning control and if it is expedient to take further action. Government guidance stresses the importance of affective enforcement action to maintain public confidence in the planning system but says councils should act proportionately.
11. The Council has confirmed Officers have visited the site multiple times. They have concluded “the condition of the building falls significantly short of causing the level of harm that would justify the Council taking formal action under Section 215 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990”. Having considered the matter, this is a professional opinion officers are entitled to make.
12. We cannot by law question the merits of a decision made without fault, even if the complainant disagrees with that decision.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. There is not enough evidence of fault in the way the Council made the decision not to take enforcement action to justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman