The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s issuing of a Certificate of Lawfulness to Ms X’s neighbour and its decision not to take enforcement action against a planning breach. This is because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council sufficient to warrant an investigation.
The complaint
The complainant, who I refer to as Ms X, complains about the Council’s decision to issue a Certificate of Lawfulness for her neighbour’s development and its decision not to take enforcement action against a planning breach in relation to it.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’ which we call ‘fault’. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended) 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 any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Ms X, including the Council’s response to her complaint.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
While Ms X may disagree with the decisions the Council has made in relation to the building work her neighbour has carried out, it is not our role to act as a point of appeal. We cannot question decisions made by councils if they have followed the right steps and considered the relevant evidence and information.
It is for the Council to determine Certificate of Lawfulness applications and, when planning breaches occur, to decide whether or not it is expedient to take enforcement action. The Council accepts there has been a planning breach but having considered matters it has decided to take no further action. It has explained its decision to Ms X and I have seen no evidence to suggest fault affected it.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council sufficient to warrant an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman