The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to enforce the terms of a section 278 legal agreement. The Council has confirmed the outstanding work is scheduled to be completed. Therefore, further investigation is not likely to lead to a different outcome, and it is not a good use of public resources to investigate failings in the complaints process alone.
The complaint
Mrs X complains the Council has: Failed to enforce the terms of a section 278 legal agreement with the developer of the road where she lives.
Failed to act on the misrepresentations made by the developer.
Allowed the developer to pursue new planning applications without fulfilling existing obligations.
Failed to respond to complaints within the correct timeframe.
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 impact 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 or continue an investigation if we decide further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
In response to my enquiries, the Council confirmed some of the outstanding works have been completed. A timetable is in place for the remaining works to be carried out. It also confirms it will continue to chase the developer for progress. Therefore, I consider further investigation will not lead to a different outcome.
We expect councils to respond to complaints according to their published complaints procedures. However, we consider it is not a good use of public resources to investigate a complaint about the complaint process alone when we are not considering the substantive issue.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because we consider that further investigation will not lead to a different outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman