The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council refusing to revoke an enforcement notice which applies to a property the complainant wants to purchase. There is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council, and we could not achieve the outcome the complainant is seeking.
The complaint
Ms X complains about the Council refusing to revoke an enforcement notice which applies to a property she wants to purchase.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We can 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. So, we do not start an investigation if we decide: there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)) With regard to the first bullet point, we can consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered: information provided by Ms X.
information about the planning and listed building consent applications for the works to the property, as available on the Council’s website.
the Planning Inspectorate’s appeal decisions relating to the site.
the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
I appreciate Ms X is very disappointed that an enforcement notice applies to the property she would like to purchase.
But 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 whether there was fault in how it made its decisions. If we decide there was no fault in how it did so, we cannot ask whether it should have made a particular decision or say it should have reached a different outcome, regardless of whether the complainant disagrees with the decision the Council made.
I have seen no evidence of fault in the way the Council reached its decision that the enforcement notice should remain applicable to the property. As such the Ombudsman will not investigate Ms X’s complaint.
We also have no power to direct the Council to remove/revoke the notice, so an investigation could not achieve the outcome Ms X is seeking.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council, and we could not achieve the outcome she is seeking.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman