Summary: Mr Y complained the Council has failed to follow its complaints procedure following a standards complaint about two of its Councillors’ conduct. He says this has made him feel frustrated. We have not investigated this complaint. This is because we cannot achieve the outcomes Mr Y is seeking and he has appealed the planning decision to the Planning Inspectorate.

The complaint

1. Mr Y complained the Council had failed to follow its complaints procedure following a complaint about two of its Councillors’ conduct about their participation in planning decisions. He said this made him feel frustrated.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We can decide whether to start or discontinue an investigation into a complaint within our jurisdiction. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended.
4. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
5. The Planning Inspector acts on behalf of the responsible Government minister. The Planning Inspector considers appeals about:

• delay – usually over eight weeks – by an authority in deciding an application for planning permission
• a decision to refuse planning permission
• conditions placed on planning permission
• a planning enforcement notice.

6. We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal or a government minister or started court action about the matter. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

7. I reviewed the details of the complaint provided by Mr Y and the Council. I also spoke to Mr Y by telephone before making my draft decision.
8. I gave the Council and Mr Y the opportunity to comment on a draft of this decision before making a final decision.

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What I found

Background

9. Councils must have arrangements to investigate allegations that a councillor has failed to follow its code of conduct. Council Monitoring Officers have a duty to ensure the council, its officers and members maintain standards of conduct. They often do so in consultation with an Independent Person.
10. Complaints that a member has failed to follow the code of conduct should be dealt with using the council’s agreed procedure. This council requires the Monitoring Officer to assess complaints and decide whether they merit formal investigation, consulting with the Independent Person.
11. In complaints about council standards matters, the Ombudsman can only look at if the Council has correctly followed its procedure to consider such complaints.
12. We can decide not to investigate complaints where we cannot achieve the outcome a person wants, or where there is an alternative right of appeal that would have been reasonable for the complainant to use.
13. We would not normally investigate a standards complaint from a planning applicant about a councillor’s involvement in voting against their planning application. We would expect the person to use their right of appeal against the refusal, as Mr Y has done in this case.

What happened

14. Mr Y has made several planning applications to the Council over several years. Councillors considered many of these applications as part of a planning committee. Mr Y says that two councillors have repeatedly voted to refuse his various applications. He believes the councillors were biased against him.
15. He complained to the Council about the councillors in December 2018. Mr Y says he has successfully appealed several planning decisions to the Planning Inspectorate.
16. The Council Monitoring Officer considered the complaint, consulting with the Independent Person but did not find evidence of bias. Mr Y feels the investigation was not thorough enough.
17. Mr Y says he is looking for the Council to remove the councillors from the planning committee and for it to take disciplinary action against them. He also seeks an unreserved apology and assurances about future planning applications. He would like financial compensation for the cost of his past applications being appealed to the Planning Inspectorate.
18. As someone seeking planning permission, Mr Y has appealed to the Planning Inspectorate about the Council’s decision. The faults claimed by Mr Y cannot be separated out from the merits of the planning decision which is the subject of his appeal. The Ombudsman cannot investigate a complaint where someone has appealed to the Inspectorate about the matter.
19. The Ombudsman cannot recommend the Council take disciplinary action or require it to change committee membership. We cannot make recommendations about a council’s actions in respect of alleged future faults. We cannot recommend the award of compensation as the courts can.
20. As we could not achieve the outcomes Mr Y is looking for it would not be a good use of public money to investigate Mr Y’s complaint.

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Final decision

21. I have stopped investigating Mr Y’s complaint. We cannot achieve the outcomes Mr Y is seeking and he has appealed to the Planning Inspectorate about the decision.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman