East Cambridgeshire District Council (22 012 268)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council dealt with two planning applications as there is no evidence of fault causing injustice. The Ombudsman cannot investigate complaints against Parish Councils.
The complaint
- Mr S says that the Council did not notify the Parish Council of two planning applications.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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:
- there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
- any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
- any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
- we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
- further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
- We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. We cannot investigate the actions of bodies such as Parish Councils. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34A, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X says that two planning applications for development near him were not notified to the local Parish Council.
- The Council says that the notifications were re-notified to the Parish Council after they said they hadn’t received them. Their comments were considered in the Planning Officer report alongside Mr X’s objections.
- I am satisfied that the Council properly notified the Parish Council of the planning applications. Any error made by the Parish Council is not a matter within our jurisdiction. I am not persuaded, in any event, that the grant of planning permission has had any effect upon Mr X’s amenity which would warrant investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman