Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council failed to respond to his complaints. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about how the Council handled several complaints he made.
2. He says this has led to him being denied access to a fair complaints process.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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

4. I considered information provided by the complainant.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr X complained about various environmental matters relating to a planning application together with complaints about two of the officers who provided technical comments on the planning application. He said the Council failed to respond to most of them and wrongly combined them all into a separate complaint.
7. The Council responded to one complaint and directed Mr X to the relevant statutory body if he had any ongoing concerns. It declined to respond to his other complaints because it said these related to matters which had been considered, or could have been raised, as part of the planning application process. Therefore, it was not appropriate to consider them under the corporate complaints procedures.
8. The substantive matters Mr X complained about are issues which relate directly to a previous planning application. This view is strengthened by the fact Mr X wanted the planning permission to be revoked or reconsidered as an outcome of complaining.
9. As a result, the complaints were not suitable for consideration under the Council’s corporate complaints procedures. The fact the Council combined most of Mr X’s complaints is immaterial to this. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman