London Borough of Bromley (19 002 169)
Category : Other Categories > Councillor conduct and standards
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 26 Jul 2019
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: Mr X complains the Council has not investigated his complaint about the involvement of two councillors in the decision to refuse a planning application he submitted. The Ombudsman cannot investigate as Mr X appealed to the Planning Inspectorate against the decision to refuse his application. The complaint is therefore outside the Ombudsman’s legal remit.
The complaint
- The complainant, whom I shall call Mr X, complains the Council has not investigated his complaint about the involvement of two councillors in the decision to refuse a planning application he submitted.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a government minister. The Planning Inspector acts on behalf of a government minister. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(b), as amended)
- The Courts have said that we cannot investigate a complaint about any action by a council, concerning a matter which is itself out of our jurisdiction. (R (on the application of M) v Commissioner for Local Administration [2006] EHWCC 2847 (Admin))
How I considered this complaint
- I have considered what Mr X said in his complaint and background information the Council sent to me. I have considered Mr X’s comments made in response to my draft decision.
What I found
- Mr X says two councillors lied at a Council planning meeting in order to ensure a planning application he submitted would be refused. Mr X complained to the Council about their conduct but it decided not to investigate.
- Mr X appealed against the Council’s decision to refuse his planning application to the Planning Inspectorate but his appeal was not upheld.
Analysis
- The injustice to Mr X, from the alleged misconduct of the councillors, was the refusal of his planning application. We consider the way to seek redress for this is to appeal to the Planning Inspectorate. Mr X did this and so any complaint about the planning decision is outside our legal remit and we have no discretion to investigate.
- For the reasons given in paragraph 3, we also cannot investigate a complaint, in isolation, about the conduct of the councillors involved.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about the involvement of two councillors in the decision to refuse his planning application. Mr X appealed against the refusal and we have therefore no discretion to investigate either the planning decision or the actions of the councillors.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman