Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to grant planning permission and lack of enforcement action. This is because part of it is late, and there is not enough evidence of fault to investigate the other matters.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains about the Council’s decision to grant planning permission for her neighbour’s building works, which she says has resulted in a loss of privacy. She also complains about the Council’s decision not to take enforcement action, and about building works causing flooding and damage to her fence.

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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 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. (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.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Ms X complained about the Council’s decision to grant planning permission to her neighbour in 2020, and its’ decision not to enforce a planning breach in 2023. She says it has significantly impacted on her privacy.
7. I will not investigate this complaint as it is late and there is no good reason to investigate now.
8. Ms X complained the neighbour had installed a raised patio which further impacted on her privacy and resulted in flooding to her garden. The Council said the patio was within permitted development, so the flooding was a civil matter.
9. I will not investigate this complaint. 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.
10. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong, regardless of whether Ms X disagrees with the decision the organisation made.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because part of it is late and there is not enough evidence of fault to investigate the rest.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman