Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s inclusion of an area for a proposed traveller site in the draft Local Plan. The complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. The personal injustice arising from the alleged fault is not significant enough to justify our continued involvement, and there is another body better placed to consider concerns about the content of the Local Plan.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council failed to follow government Planning Policy for Traveller Sites (PPTS) dated August 2015.

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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 impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. We will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainants have suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of fault(s) or failure(s) by the service provider. This means we will not normally investigate a complaint where the complainant is using their enquiry as a way of raising, for example, a wider community campaign. So, although I understand Mr X is concerned about the Council’s inclusion of the site in its draft local plan, I do not consider the alleged fault has caused him a significant personal injustice above and beyond that which might be suffered by other residents in the community.
6. Also, local plans are subject to statutory procedures for public consultation and independent examination by the Planning Inspectorate before they can be adopted by the authority.
7. The Council’s draft local plan is currently out for public consultation. It is open for Mr X to make comments on the legality of the draft proposal. Following consultation, the plan will be subject to the statutory examination process. This will assess whether the plan has been prepared in accordance with legal and procedural requirements and if it is sound. The Planning Inspector will consider the evidence provided by the Council to support the plan and any representations which have been put forward by local people and other interested parties. Therefore, if the Council proceeds with including the site in the draft Local Plan in the future, Mr X may raise his concerns about the soundness of the proposal with the Planning Inspectorate.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we do not consider he has suffered a significant personal injustice arising from the alleged fault. And the Planning Inspectorate is better placed to consider concerns about the content of the draft Local Plan.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman