Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about planning enforcement because there is no evidence of fault by the Council and part of the complaint is out of time.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains that the Council unreasonably decided not to take enforcement action against a neighbour’s extension.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a @council/care provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
3. 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..

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

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Mr X complains that a neighbour built a window and door into a new extension without the benefit of planning permission. He says that the Council will not take enforcement action.
7. Mr X’s neighbour obtained planning permission for an extension to his bungalow in January 2022 making the bungalow two storey. Any complaint about this planning permission is out of time as the matter could reasonably have been brought to this office within 12 months.
8. Mr X complained that the neighbour had installed a door to the garage and a window to the side extension which would affect his privacy.
9. Councils can take enforcement action if they find planning rules have been breached. However, councils should not take enforcement action just because there has been a breach of planning control.
10. Planning enforcement is discretionary and formal action should happen only when it would be a proportionate response to the breach. 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.
11. As planning enforcement action is discretionary, councils may decide to take informal action or not to act at all. Informal action might include negotiating improvements, seeking an assurance or undertaking, or requesting submission of a planning application so they can formally consider the issues.
12. Not all development needs planning permission from local planning authorities. Certain developments are deemed permitted, providing they fall within limits set within regulations. This type of development is known as ‘permitted development’
13. The Council sought, and obtained, a retrospective planning application to regularise the building.
14. The Planning Officer noted that the door and window could be installed without the need for planning permission as they would be considered permitted development.
15. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong, regardless of whether you disagree with the decision the organisation made.
16. I am satisfied that the Council properly considered enforcement in this case. In the absence of fault, the Ombudsman would not investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

17. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is no evidence of fault by the Council and part of the complaint is out of time.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman