Salford city council has been forced to apologise and pay out £250 in compensation to a resident who complained of a planning breach by a neighbour. The local government and social care ombudsman found ‘fault, causing injustice regarding its delays and failure to complete its investigation in accordance with its enforcement policy".
However, the ombudsman found no fault with the way the authority made its decision. The complainant ‘Y’ reported a planning control breach over the development of part of a neighbouring property to the council’s enforcement team in April 2021.
A planning enforcement officer contacted Y for more details, including how long the development had been there. The officer made enquiries about the development with the neighbour and then contacted Y with an update on the situation.
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Y then heard nothing further about their complaint. They asked the council for an update in September, but ‘did not receive any substantive reply’.
The council’s records say the enforcement officer made a site visit in November, but could not gain access. Y chased the council for an update in January, February and March 2022. They did not receive a response.
On March 28, Y complaine to the council about its lack of action.
The same day, the enforcement officer wrote to Y saying they apologised for the delay in replying to Y’s emails; they had investigated the issue and there was evidence the issue complained about had been ongoing for some time and, based on satellite imagery, at least since May 2019.
The enforcement officer said the council could not take enforcement action regarding the development as this was outside its control and the installation of other items did not require planning permission. The council closed the case on April 12.
Y was not satisfied with the reply and in May the council gave a ‘stage two’ response, saying it was clear the development had been present since at least April 2018.
“It was likely planning permission was needed for the development, but as four years had now passed it was now immune from enforcement action,” the ombudsman’s report said.
“The recent installation of other items may also need planning permission, but these on their own would not warrant enforcement action as it would not be proportionate or expedient.”
The ombudsman said it was not his role to decide whether the council’s decision not to take any enforcement action was right or wrong.
“My view is that the council properly considered the information obtained about the development, how long it had been present and the installation of items. It reviewed the enforcement officer's investigation before confirming and explaining its decision in May 2022. I have not found fault in the way it made this decision.”
But the ombudsman went on to point out that the council’s policy says it will respond to priority three complaints and tell the complainant the likely course of action within 28 days.
“It also says it will keep the complainant informed throughout the whole process,” the report continued. “But here, the council took almost a year to tell Y its decision on their complaint. It failed to keep them updated and did not respond to their requests for an update.
“It did not complete its investigation in accordance with the timescales in its policy, it did not complete a site visit and failed to communicate properly with Y. I consider this was fault by the council.”
As well as paying the complaint £250 and apologising to Y, the council was ordered to issue a reminder to its planning enforcement officers of the procedures and timescales in its planning enforcement policy for the investigation of reports of planning control breaches.
It must also review its process for monitoring the progress of the investigation of reports of breaches and their completion within the ‘required timescales’.
“The council should provide us with evidence it has complied with those actions,” the ombudsman concluded.
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