Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council (23 006 339)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with the complainant’s application for a certificate of lawfulness of proposed use or development. This is because the complainant had the right to appeal to the Planning Inspector.
The complaint
- The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr X, has complained about how the Council dealt with his application for a certificate of lawfulness of proposed use or development (CLOPUD). Mr X says the Council did not consider his application in line with the relevant guidance and relied on inaccurate and out of date information. Mr X says he has suffered financial losses because of the Council’s actions.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a government minister. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(b), as amended)
- The Planning Inspector acts on behalf of the responsible Government minister. The Planning Inspector considers appeals about:
- Delay – usually over eight weeks – by an authority in deciding an application for planning permission
- A decision to refuse planning permission
- Conditions placed on planning permission
- A planning enforcement notice.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X could have appealed to the Planning Inspector if he was unhappy with the Council’s decision not to grant his CLOPUD application.
- Mr X has raised many concerns about how the Council dealt with his application. But these matters are related to the decision which could have been appealed and I consider it would have been reasonable for Mr X to have used his right to appeal. The Ombudsman will not usually investigate when someone had a right to appeal to the Planning Inspector, even if the appeal would not have addressed all the issues complained about.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he had the right to appeal to the Planning Inspector.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman