Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council failing to take planning enforcement action against a number of alleged breaches of planning control at a site near the complainant’s home. There is not enough evidence of fault in the way the Council has considered the enforcement issues, and some of the works do not cause the complainant a significant injustice.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council has failed to take appropriate planning enforcement action against several alleged breaches of planning control at a neighbouring property.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We can 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. So, we do not start 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.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

3. With regard to the first bullet point above, we can consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there is not enough evidence of fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
4. And in relation to the second and third bullet points, we do not start an investigation if we decide the impact of the fault a person complains about is not so significant that we should investigate. We will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures by an organisation
5. Finally, it is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

6. I considered:
• information provided by Mrs X and the Council, which included their complaint correspondence.
• information about the refused planning application for the neighbouring property, available on the Council website.
• the Council’s ‘Planning enforcement and monitoring plan’
• the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

Back to top

My assessment

7. Councils can take enforcement action if they find planning rules have been breached. However, planning enforcement is discretionary, so councils should not take enforcement action just because there has been a breach of planning control. Government guidance says action should be proportionate to the breach and taken when it is expedient to do so. When deciding whether to enforce, councils should consider the likely impact of harm to the public and whether they might grant approval if they were to receive an application for the development or use. Therefore, Council’s may decide to take formal action, informal action, or not to act at all.
8. The Ombudsman does not act as an appeal body against Council decisions on planning enforcement cases. Rather, we look at whether there was fault in the way it made its decisions. If we decide there is not enough evidence of fault in how it did so, we cannot question whether it should have reached a particular decision or say it should have reached a different outcome, regardless of whether the complainant disagrees with the decision the organisation made.
9. I consider there is not enough evidence of fault in the way the Council has reached its decisions on the planning enforcement issues here to justify starting an investigation. lt has visited the site, considered the information submitted by Mrs X, and explained its position on each of the alleged breaches of planning control.
10. In addition, the impact, or personal injustice, caused to Mrs X by some of the works is not significant enough to justify the Ombudsman pursuing them further.
11. As we are not starting an investigation into the substantive enforcement matters being complained about, it would not be a good use of our resources to pursue any associated concerns about the Council’s complaints process in isolation.

Back to top

Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault causing a significant injustice.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman