Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council has promoted its land as a development site for inclusion in the draft Local Plan. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. The personal injustice arising from the alleged fault is not significant enough to justify our continued involvement, and there is another body better placed to consider concerns about the content of the Local Plan.

The complaint

1. The complainants, a group of residents whom I shall refer to as ‘the Group’, are concerned about the Council’s lack of transparency and consultation on the possible allocation of its land as a development site in the draft Local Plan. In particular, the Group says the Council failed to obtain the necessary ‘key decision’ authorisation to spend a total of £337,000 over the last 5 years on assessing the viability and feasibility of including the site in the Plan.
2. In summary, the Group says their faith and trust in local democracy and elected members has been undermined. They feel exploited by a Council which is happy to accept their taxes and volunteering time, yet displays a lack of openness and engagement with its residents on issues which affect their wellbeing and the local environment.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with 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
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.

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

4. And we cannot investigate something that affects all or most of the people in a council’s area. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(7), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the Group, and our Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. We will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainants have suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of fault(s) or failure(s) by the service provider. This means we will not normally investigate a complaint where the complainant is using their enquiry as a way of raising, for example, a wider community campaign. So, whilst I appreciate the Group is concerned about local democracy and the way the Council has made decisions concerning the future use of its land, I am not persuaded the alleged fault has caused them a particular and significant personal injustice above and beyond that which might be suffered by other residents in the community. In reaching this view, I am mindful the Ombudsman cannot investigate concerns about how taxes/public money is spent, as that is a matter which affects all or most people in the Council’s area. I am also mindful that the Council has recently decided not to consider the site for development in the Local Plan at this time.
7. In addition, Local Plans are subject to statutory procedures for public consultation and independent examination by the Planning Inspectorate before they can be adopted by the authority. The examination will assess whether the plan has been prepared in accordance with legal and procedural requirements and if it is sound. The Inspector will consider the evidence provided by the Council to support the plan and any representations which have been put forward by local people and other interested parties. Therefore, if the Council proceeds with including its land in the draft Local Plan in the future, the Group may raise its concerns about the soundness or the planning merits of such a proposal with the Planning Inspectorate.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate the Group’s complaint because the personal injustice arising from the alleged fault is not significant enough to justify our continued involvement, and there is another body better placed to consider concerns about the content of the Local Plan.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman