LGO Individual Decisions

Summary: Mr D says the Council has failed to take enforcement action for breaches of planning control at a site near his home. The Ombudsman has found evidence of delay by the Council. He has upheld the complaint and completed the investigation because the Council agrees to take action.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the complainant’s land is incorrectly designated in the Council’s planning policies, as the designation was based on an out-of-date map. The complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. It is reasonable to expect the complainant to have contacted us sooner, the events occurred too long ago, we cannot achieve the outcome the complainant is seeking, and it is reasonable to expect the complainant to contact the Information Commissioner about the Council’s responses to freedom of info

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with Ms X’s planning application. This is because Ms X had appeal rights to the Planning Inspector which we would reasonably have expected her to have used.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council failed to adequately respond to the complainant’s concerns about her neighbour’s conservatory. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. Some parts of the complaint are late, we cannot investigate concerns about the Council’s management of its social housing, and it is reasonable to expect the complainant to use the court remedy provided in the Right-to-Buy process to settle the dispute about the boundary position.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision that he is liable to pay Community Infrastructure Levy. This is because the Valuation Office Agency is the body set up in law to consider these matters and it would be reasonable to expect Mr X to pursue the family’s right of appeal.

Summary: Mr X complains about the Council’s refusal to take planning enforcement action against a neighbour. We will not investigate this complaint because there is no evidence of fault by the Council.

Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about a housing fraud investigation that was concluded in 2016. This is because we have no power to investigate a council when it is acting as a landlord and because the Housing Ombudsman has already considered the complaint. We also cannot investigate allegations of crime.