The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of enforcement issues related to an extractor fan. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. The complaint is late, and it is reasonable to expect the complainant to have contacted the Ombudsman sooner.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I refer to as Mrs X, says the Council failed to consider the environmental impact of an extractor fan when it determined an associated planning application for the change of use of the building. Mrs X says the Council then delayed in considering the ongoing breach of planning control, so the extractor fan became immune from enforcement action.
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)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council, which included their complaint correspondence. I also considered our Assessment Code.
My assessment
The 12-month time restriction detailed above applies to this complaint. The change of use application was approved in 2016, Mrs X contacted the Council’s planning enforcement team in 2018, and the Council provided its associated final complaint response in May 2020. Yet Mrs X did not contact the Ombudsman until October 2022.
I am unaware of any reasons why Mrs X was prevented from contacting us sooner, so the Ombudsman will not exercise discretion to consider this late complaint now.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is reasonable to expect her to have contacted the Ombudsman sooner.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman