Summary: Mr B complains about the conduct of a councillor in connection with his planning application. The Ombudsman will not investigate the complaint because there is no evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Mr B, complains about the Council’s investigation into his complaint about the actions and behaviour of a local councillor in connection with a planning application he submitted. He says the councillor cost him money and that he should be compensated and the councillor punished.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. In considering the complaint I reviewed the information provided by Mr B and the Council. I gave Mr B the opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

4. The councillor the subject of Mr B’s complaint, who I shall call Councillor Q, called in Mr B’s planning application to be determined by committee rather than under officer delegated powers.
5. Contrary to the officer recommendation, the Planning Committee, of which Councillor Q is a member, voted to refuse permission for the application. Mr B appealed against the Council’s decision but the Planning Inspector refused his appeal.
6. Some months later, Mr B submitted a complaint to the Council about its handling of his application and about the actions and behaviour of Councillor Q. Mr B complained about the councillor’s behaviour at the committee meeting and alleged that the councillor had failed to declare a personal friendship with neighbours who live near the development site and who were opposed to the proposed scheme.
7. The Council addressed Mr B’s planning complaint under the 3 stages of its complaints procedure but separated from it the part which related to the councillor’s conduct which was passed to the Monitoring Officer for consideration.
8. In accordance with normal procedures, the Monitoring Officer interviewed the parties involved and discussed matters with the Independent Person. Having done so, the Monitoring Officer concluded there had been no breach of the Councillor Code of Conduct and that no further action would be taken against Councillor Q.

Assessment

9. The Ombudsman cannot review the merits of council decisions which have been properly made and, while I understand Mr B is disappointed with the outcome of the decision in his case, I have seen no evidence to suggest there was fault in the way the Council dealt with his complaint about the councillor and I see no grounds on which to base an investigation.

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Final decision

10. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is no evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman