The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision not to take formal action regarding the condition of his neighbour’s land. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s actions.
The complaint
Mr X complains the Council refuses to serve his neighbour with a notice under section 215 (‘s215’) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (‘the 1990 Act’).
He says the condition of the site has blighted his home.
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 do not start an investigation if we decide 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.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X wants the Council to serve a notice on his neighbour using section 215 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. This gives councils powers to serve remedial notices on owners or occupiers of land. The authorities’ power is a discretionary one, not a duty. Whether officers serve a notice depends on their judgement as to the adverse impacts caused by the land’s condition.
We may only criticise a council’s decision where there has been fault in its decision-making process and but for that fault a different decision would have been made. We cannot replace a properly made officer decision with our or anyone else’s opinion. So we consider the processes the Council has used to reach its decision.
In response to Mr X’s complaint the Council confirms officers have investigated the site on three occasions. Each time they decided the condition of the land does not justify serving a section 215 Notice.
Mr X disagrees with the Council’s assessment of the site.
The Council has advised that it is the professional opinion of planning enforcement officers that the condition of the site does not warrant the Council serving a section 215 Notice. There is not enough evidence of fault in the decision‑making process here to warrant us investigating. We recognise Mr X disagrees with the Council’s decision. But it is not fault for a council to properly make a decision with which someone disagrees.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we have not seen enough evidence of fault in the way the Council decided not to serve a section 215 Notice on Mr X’s neighbour.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman