Summary: We cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint about the actions of the Parish Council or independent examiner in creating and processing a neighbourhood development plan as they are not bodies within our jurisdiction. We will not investigate the actions of the Borough Council as we could not say they caused Ms X injustice and we cannot stop the making of the plan or change its contents.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Ms X, complains about the process leading to the making of a neighbourhood development plan. She says the plan is not sound and the Council failed to provide consistent advice and guidance to the Parish Council, which led on the project. She also complains the independent examiner ignored arguments put forward by local residents.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate. We can investigate the actions of certain councils but cannot investigate the actions of the independent examiner or Parish Council. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34A, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Neighbourhood planning gives communities a direct role to develop a shared vision for their area and deliver the sustainable development they need. Unlike parish, village or town plans that communities prepare, a neighbourhood plan forms part of the development plan and sits alongside the local plan prepared by the local planning authority (LPA).
6. Where a community wants to take up the opportunities offered by neighbourhood planning, the legislation allows three types of organisation, known as ‘qualifying bodies’, to lead it:

• a parish or town council
• a neighbourhood forum
• a community organisation

7. The qualifying body here was the Parish Council.
8. Local Planning Authorities (LPAs), in the case the Council, have a duty to guide and aid qualifying bodies preparing neighbourhood plans. This will include sharing information, providing advice, and encouraging best practice.
9. The Council must progress a submitted neighbourhood plan proposal through the formal stages which include:

• publicising the submitted plan proposal
• arranging an independent examination
• determining if the plan should proceed to referendum; and
• making the necessary arrangements to hold the referendum.

10. An independent examiner considers the content of a neighbourhood plan. They are limited to testing whether a draft neighbourhood plan meets the basic conditions, and other matters set out in the relevant legislation. The independent examiner is not testing the soundness of a neighbourhood plan or examining other material considerations.
11. Ms X is unhappy with the way the Parish Council, Borough Council and independent examiner handled the matter but we cannot investigate their actions as a whole. This is because neither the Parish Council nor the independent examiner fall under our jurisdiction.
12. We can only consider the actions of the Borough Council and it is unlikely we could say these actions caused Ms X injustice. The Parish Council led on the project to create the neighbourhood development plan and Ms X’s concerns are primarily related to the plan they created. While she believes the Borough Council should have better advised the Parish Council, and that either it or the independent examiner should have altered it to address her concerns and those of her neighbours, this is not how the process works.
13. The Borough Council progressed the draft plan through the formal stages and the independent examiner confirmed it met the basic conditions required by law, but it was the Parish Council which decided on its contents. It was then for local residents to vote on the plan and they voted overwhelming in favour of it.
14. Had the Borough Council advised the Parish Council differently it may have decided to change the plan or it may not have done. Had it changed the plan the independent examiner may then have recommended changes of their own and residents may have voted to reject it. Any injustice Ms X claims is entirely speculative and too far removed from the actions of the Borough Council for us to recommend a remedy.
15. We also cannot achieve any worthwhile outcome for Ms X by investigating her complaint as we cannot interfere with the process. Residents have cast their vote on the plan and the law requires it to be made. The only means to change the plan would be in court or by formally applying to alter it.

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Final decision

16. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because we cannot attribute Ms X’s claimed injustice to the Borough Council’s actions and we cannot achieve any worthwhile outcome for Ms X. We cannot investigate the actions of the Parish Council or independent examiner.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman