Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s response to consultation about a planning application. It is unlikely we would find fault by the Council or that we could say its response directly caused Mr X significant injustice.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains about the Council’s response to consultation about a planning application. He believes the planning permission granted will affect parking in the area and has implications for highway safety.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

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

3. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I reviewed Mr X’s complaint, shared my draft decision with him and considered his comments.

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What I found

5. A developer applied to the District Council for planning permission in 2018. The District Council consulted the County Council, as the local highway authority, and invited its comments. The County Council made no comment and the District Council granted planning permission. Mr X made a Freedom of Information request to the Police for details of all highway incidents in the area and complained to the County Council. The County Council explained its records showed only one incident in the immediate vicinity of the application site and that it properly reached its decision to make no comment on the application. Mr X was unhappy with the Council’s response.
6. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. The County Council reviewed the details of the application and exercised its judgement in deciding not to comment. The law does not allow us to criticise the professional judgement of council officers unless there is fault in the way it was reached. While Mr X has provided details of the Police statistics which suggest there were more incidents than the Council has recorded and considered, Mr X’s Freedom of Information request covered a much wider area. The Council has considered only those incidents in the immediate vicinity of the application site and it is not for us to say this is wrong. The application related to a specific site and what is relevant is the impact of development at that site. The fact that an incident has taken place further up the road does not directly impact on whether the proposal is acceptable. The statistics Mr X obtained also give details of incidents including abandoned vehicles, obstruction/disruption and nuisance, which are not themselves indicative of highway safety issues.
7. In addition to this, while the County Council provided its consultation response it was the District Council which granted planning permission. Its decision took account of material planning considerations of which highway matters were a part, but the County Council did not determine the application and there were further issues the District Council considered. It is therefore unlikely we could say the County Council’s response caused Mr X significant injustice.

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Final decision

8. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is unlikely we would find fault by the Council causing Mr X significant injustice and we cannot overturn the District Council’s decision to grant planning permission for the proposal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman