The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the way the Council has dealt with planning enforcement issues affecting land close to his home over a number of years. This is because we will not investigate late complaints and because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council in relation to recent events sufficient to warrant an investigation.
The complaint
The complainant, who I refer to as Mr X, complains over the years the Council has failed to ensure an acceptable level of amenity in his neighbourhood and that there has been an inadequate level of diligence applied to key planning decisions and the enforcement of planning conditions for operations on an industrial estate close to his home. He also complains about its response to health and safety and environmental issues and wants the Council to recognise historic failures, apologise to residents and put in place measures to protect resident amenity.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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) 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 may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council, including its responses to his complaint.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
I gave Mr X the opportunity to comment on my draft decision and considered what he said.
My assessment
Mr X complained to the Council about matters going back a number of years concerning operations at an industrial estate close to his home.
The Council responded under the two stages of its complaints procedure and addressed issues he had raised which had not previously been investigated and addressed. With regard to current operations at the estate, and particularly hours of operation and noise nuisance, it set out what action it had taken and was taking. It said it had been active in investigating and taking action to enforce planning conditions and health and safety on site and that it did not accept it needed to apologise as Mr X had requested.
While Mr X is not satisfied with the Council’s response to his complaint, part of it covers past events which fall outside our jurisdiction due to the passage of time. As Mr X could have complained about these past events earlier, I see no grounds which warrant exercising discretion to investigate them now.
With regard to decisions taken by the Council in relation to current events, it is not our role to act as a point of appeal. We cannot question decisions taken by councils if they have followed the right steps and considered the relevant evidence and information.
In responding to my draft decision Mr X says the problems are ongoing and that currently there is a related planning application awaiting a decision by the Council. While there is clearly a history to the case, we will not investigate past events which could have been complained about sooner.
The current planning application will be determined in accordance with normal procedures. The Council has issued Enforcement Notices in relation to the site and confirmed it will be monitoring the situation and taking legal action against planning breaches if necessary. There is no evidence to suggest there has been fault by the Council in the way it has been dealing with these matters even though Mr X may not agree with the decisions it has taken.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint. This is because we will not investigate late complaints and because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council in relation to recent events sufficient to warrant an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman