The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs Y’s complaint about the Council’s delay in dealing with breaches of planning control by a neighbouring landowner. This is because we could not provide a remedy for Mrs Y’s injustice following her death.
The complaint
The complainant, Mr X, complains on behalf of his mother, Mrs Y. He says the Council has failed to take appropriate action to deal with breaches of planning control on land adjacent to that which belonged to Mrs Y. He says unauthorised development by the landowner caused harm to Mrs Y’s amenity and resulted in harmful impact on the setting of her property.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. 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 Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The primary impact of the alleged unauthorised development was on Mrs Y and related to her enjoyment of her property. Mrs Y has sadly now died and we cannot provide a suitable remedy for any injustice she experienced during her lifetime.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint. This is because we could not achieve any worthwhile outcome for Mrs Y.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman