Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about planning permission as there is no evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council’s decision to grant a Certificate of Lawfulness for the use of a children’s home.

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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 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 continue 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.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. A planning application for a Certificate of lawful use of a residential property close to Mr X’s house was submitted in February 2022. The proposed use was for a children’s home for up to three children and two carers.
6. Mr X argues that the Council failed to consider legal cases which he presented to them which suggested that planning permission was required for a change of use.
7. The Planning Officer report to the Planning Committee referred to his objections and cited several legal cases where similar examples were considered not to require planning permission.
8. Planning permission is usually needed to change a use from one class to another. Whether a change of use has occurred is a matter of ‘fact and degree’ for the Council to decide.
9. It is possible to seek formal confirmation from councils that an existing or proposed development or use of land is lawful and so needs no planning permission. If the Council accepts the evidence provided, it can issue a certificate of lawful use to the applicant.
10. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong, regardless of whether you disagree with the decision the organisation made.
11. I have considered the steps the organisation took to consider the issue, and the information it took account of when deciding to grant the certificate. There is no fault in how it took the decision and I therefore cannot question whether that decision was right or wrong. Mr X’s dissatisfaction lies with the Council’s view of the law but, in the absence of administrative fault, the Ombudsman cannot question this.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman