Ombudsman warns of collapse in public trust in planning enforcement without proper resourcing

In a report, ‘Losing control: complaints about planning enforcement’, the Ombudsman highlighted - amongst other issues -  poor communication between planning departments and legal teams causing missed deadlines.

The LGSCO claimed significant delay by councils is increasing and, in some cases, statutory time limits had passed before councils could act, “leaving communities with no legal remedy and developments that breach planning rules standing indefinitely”.

The Ombudsman reported that planning enforcement investigations have become a much greater proportion of its planning work, last year making up nearly half (47%) of all upheld planning and development cases (up from 26% in 2021-22).

The report sets out learning points for councils based on common issues the LGSCO has found.

On miscommunication between planning and legal teams, it cites ‘Ranveer and Peter’s story’ involving the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead which led to two reports from the Ombudsman in 2024 (here and here):

Ranveer and Peter are neighbours and live opposite a site where a small house had been built without planning permission. They reported this to the council.

The council began action by serving a planning contravention notice. Later it instructed its lawyers, but nothing happened, so court papers were not served in time. The statutory time limit for action passed, so the council could not take the enforcement action it had intended.

How it was put right: The council accepted it was at fault and explained this was due to poor communication between the planning department and its lawyers. It accepted our recommendations to carry out a review to try to improve its procedures. It produced a new briefing note for referrals to its legal services, which should result in clearer instructions and less misunderstanding.

Other learning points identified include:

• Cases where enforcement action has drifted for years without resolution
• Inadequate processes to manage staff turnover, leading to repeated work and lost evidence
• Councils losing the power to protect Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and enforce planning conditions.

The report includes questions for councillors and heads of service to help scrutinise their local planning enforcement services.

Does your authority:

1. Have a planning enforcement policy with realistic, but robust, time targets?
2. Have a policy and procedures that refer to people making ‘reports’ about breaches of planning
   rather than ’complaints’?
3. Have officers who understand the difference between a service request and a complaint?
4. Have systems in place to identify significant matters needing urgent attention?
5. Ensure it acts before statutory time limits expire?
6. Consistently check its decision making is effective and compare its performance with other
   authorities via Key Performance Indicators?
7. Have systems to ensure timescales are adhered to when work passes between different
   departments?
8. Ensure it has sufficient staff and resources to deal with workloads?
9. Have processes to check how competitive its salary offer is?
10. Have contingency plans to deal with any caseload backlogs?
11. Have protocols for dealing with issues that could be covered by other authorities or bodies?
12. Regularly check its work practices and procedures are fit for purpose and up-to-date?
13. Have a system in place to ensure its equipment and software meet their intended purposes?

The LGSCO said its report echoes findings from a Royal Town Planning Institute survey, which found 80% of planning enforcement officers said there were not enough staff to carry out the workload, 89% reported case backlogs, and 73% said their authority had struggled to recruit.

Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, Amerdeep Clarke, said: "If people lose faith that planning rules will be enforced, they stop raising concerns. We risk a two-tier system: those who follow the law play by the rules, while those who flout them face no real consequences.

"We recognise and welcome Government plans to improve the planning system and boost the nation's economy through increased development. But development without enforcement is a recipe for planning chaos. Without proper resourcing, public trust in the entire system will collapse.

"We also appreciate the immense pressure planning teams are under, and it's encouraging to see so many welcome our findings as evidence to support investment in their services. The case studies we've highlighted show that, with the right resources, teams can make significant improvements that benefit both staff and the communities they serve."

Simon Creer, Director of Communications and External Relations at the RTPI, said: “Enforcement officers are the backbone of the planning system. But as this report shows, years of under-resourcing and challenges in recruitment have led to staff shortages and overwhelming workloads.

“RTPI research from 2022 into planning enforcement resourcing raised the alarm - unfortunately, this report suggests that there has been little improvement and that, as a result, in some places services are ‘struggling or already broken’.

“If we want to build at scale and meet the government’s ambitious housing targets, we’ll need to make sure there are sufficient enforcement officers in place to ensure the planning system can effectively support delivery and uphold policy standards.”