Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of a planning enforcement matter and a planning application at a site near to the complainant’s home. The alleged faults in the handling of the planning application have not caused a significant injustice, and we are satisfied with the action the Council has taken in response to the breach of planning control.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as X, complains about the Council’s consideration of a breach of planning control at a nearby property, and its consideration of a later planning application at the same site. In particular, they complain that:
• the Council failed to identify that a planning condition was being breached when residents reported a possible breach of planning control at the site.
• the Council accepted an ownership certificate that appears incorrect, despite the neighbouring landowner confirming they had not been notified.
• the application description was misleading.
• false claims by the applicant went unchallenged.
• the Committee report downplayed the impact of the proposal, and incorrect advice was provided at the Committee.
• the Council demonstrated poor planning judgement in relation to the proposed parking provision.
2. X also complains the Stage 1 complaint was dealt with by an officer previously involved in the decision-making on the planning application.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We can 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. So, we do not start an investigation if we decide:

• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we are satisfied with the action the Council has already taken or proposed to take.

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

4. With regard to the first two bullet points above, our role is to consider complaints where the person bringing the complaint has suffered significant personal injustice as a direct result of the actions or inactions of the organisation. This means we will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures. We will not normally investigate a complaint where the alleged loss or injustice is not a serious or significant matter.
5. And it is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered:
• information provided by X.
• information about the planning application, as available on the Council’s website.
• information about the Development Control Committee’s consideration of the application, as available on the Council’s website.
• information about the Council’s approach to planning enforcement, as available on the Council’s website.
• the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. We will not investigate any parts of the complaint about the Council’s handling of the planning application. The application was ultimately refused so, from the Ombudsman’s perspective, the alleged faults have not caused X a significant injustice.
8. With regard to the earlier report of a breach of planning control, the Council has apologised for failing to identify that the works breached a historic planning condition. It has opened a new enforcement case, and is in the process of considering the matter. An investigation by the Ombudsman is unlikely to achieve much more than this, so we will not pursue this aspect of the complaint either.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate X’s complaint because the alleged faults in the handling of the planning application have not caused them a significant injustice, and we are satisfied with the action the Council has now taken in response to the breach of planning control.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman