Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (22 013 818)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a planning application. This is because it is unlikely we could achieve the outcome the complainant wants.
The complaint
- The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr X, has complained about the Council’s decision to grant his neighbour planning permission. Mr X says the development encroaches on his property and has damaged his driveway and garden. Mr X believes the Council has been negligent and should pay for the damage.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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, or
- we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
- The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X believes the Council did not properly scrutinise his neighbour’s plans before granting planning permission for the extension and says it is responsible for the damage to his home. However, it is not for the Council to get involved with issues relating to property damage or boundary disputes and these were not material planning considerations. These will instead be private civil matters between Mr X and his neighbour.
- Mr X says the Council has been negligent. But the Ombudsman cannot decide if a council is negligent and does not have the power to award damages. Only the courts can do this. Therefore, it would be reasonable for Mr X to seek a remedy through the courts in relation to this part of his complaint.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we cannot achieve the outcome he wants.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman