Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to refuse to hold a policy and governance review relating to a planning permission granted in 2020. It is too late to complain about the planning decision made six years ago. And we have not seen enough evidence of fault in the way the Council decided not to carry out a review.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council refuses to address long standing governance and policy compliance concerns about a planning permission granted in 2020.

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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 cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. 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 there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

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

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. At the heart of Ms X’s complaint is the Councils decision to grant planning permission for a development in 2020. The law says a complaint must be made to us within 12 months of a person becoming aware of the matter. Ms X was aware of the Council’s decision in 2020. I have seen no reason why she could not have complained to us much sooner. Therefore we will not exercise discretion and investigate her concerns about this matter.
8. Ms X also complains about the Council’s recent decision to refuse her request for a governance and legality review into the handling of the planning application. The Council has advised there is no mechanism for it to carry out a policy and governance review based on the information she has provided.
9. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. Our role is to consider whether the Council has followed the correct process before arriving its decision. In this case the Monitoring Officer, who is responsible for ensuring legal governance, ethical standards and proper conduct, considered Mr X’s request and decided there is no mechanism for carrying out the review she is seeking. This is a decision the Council is entitled to make.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because:
• It is too late to complain about the Council’s decision to grant planning permission in 2020; and
• We have not seen enough evidence of fault in the way the Council considered and refused her request for policy review relating to the 2020 planning permission.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman