Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s conduct in dealing with related planning application and enforcement matters. This is because we cannot achieve any worthwhile outcome for Miss X. Other bodies are also better placed to have considered any challenges to the information and statements the Council made.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Miss X, complains the Council altered and withheld documents and made false statements to the court and at planning hearings and inquiries.

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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 effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
3. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)
4. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a government minister. We may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal but cannot investigate if the person has already appealed. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(b))
5. The Planning Inspector acts on behalf of the responsible Government minister. The Planning Inspector considers appeals about:

• delay – usually over eight weeks – by an authority in deciding an application for planning permission
• a decision to refuse planning permission
• conditions placed on planning permission
• a planning enforcement notice.

6. The Information Commissioner's Office considers complaints about freedom of information. Its decision notices may be appealed to the First Tier Tribunal (Information Rights). So where we receive complaints about freedom of information, we normally consider it reasonable to expect the person to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner.

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered information provided by Miss X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Miss X has a history of contact with the Council relating to planning matters over several years. She has made her own applications for planning permission and has faced action from the Council over breaches of control. She has challenged the Council’s decisions and enforcement notices and has been to court. Miss X complains about the Council’s actions and wants it to grant her planning permission, reimburse her costs, pay compensation, rescind enforcement notices and an injunction and make a public apology.
9. We will not investigate this complaint as we cannot achieve any worthwhile outcome for Miss X. Some of the issues she describes carried a right of appeal to the Planning Inspectorate and in most cases she seems to have used this right.
10. If Miss X wished to challenge any statements made by the Council as part of her planning applications, appeals and further challenges she should have done so at the time and with body which considered the matter. We cannot now say the Council’s actions would have changed the outcome of her case and we have no power to grant or require the Council to grant planning permission for her development as she would like.
11. We also cannot investigate the Council’s conduct as part of any court proceedings, as set out at Paragraph 3. If Miss X wished to recover her costs for defending and taking any legal action from and against the Council it would have been reasonable for her to make a claim for costs at court.
12. If Miss X is not happy with the information provided by the Council as part of any ‘freedom of information’ request it would have been reasonable for her to take the matter to the Information Commissioner.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because we cannot achieve any worthwhile outcome for Miss X and there are other bodies which were better placed to consider her concerns.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman