Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council has refused to engage with complainant about finding a viable use for a listed building he owns. There is insufficient evidence of fault in the way the Council has responded to the request for engagement, and we cannot investigate alleged faults which affect all or most people in the Council’s area.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council has refused to engage in any meaningful manner with about finding a viable use for a listed building he owns. Instead, he says the Council prefers to follow a route that wastes hundreds of thousands of pounds of public money on an entirely avoidable purchase of the listed building.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We can 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. So, we do not start 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
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.

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

4. 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)
5. We also cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a government minister. The Planning Inspector acts on behalf of a government minister. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(b), as amended)
6. The Planning Inspector acts on behalf of the responsible Government minister. The Planning Inspector can consider appeals about:

• Delay – usually over eight weeks – by an authority in deciding an application for planning permission.
• A decision to refuse planning permission.

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered:
• information provided by Mr X and the Council, which included some of their complaint correspondence.
• information about Mr X’s planning and listed building applications, as available on the Council’s planning website.
• the Planning Inspector’s appeal decisions relating to the site.
• the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. For the avoidance of any doubt, the Ombudsman cannot investigate any parts of the complaint about Mr X’s planning and listed building applications where he has already used his right of appeal to the Planning Inspector.
9. The Planning Inspector, acting on behalf of the Secretary of State, is also better placed to consider the Council’s decision not to comply with the listed building purchase notice served by Mr X, so we would not investigate any parts of the complaint about that matter either.
10. We also cannot investigate matters which affect all or most people in the Council’s area. This means we cannot investigate any parts of complaint where the claimed injustice relates to the use of public money, as that affects all or most people in the Council’s area, and not just Mr X.
11. Finally, I also consider there is insufficient evidence of fault in the way the Council has responded to Mr X’s requests for engagement. The Council offers a pre‑application advice service for providing advice about proposed developments. I appreciate Mr X is reluctant to use this service based on a previous experience, but it is not fault for the Council to recommend he use it if he wants to discuss the development of the site. The Council has also advised Mr X to obtain professional advice from a historic buildings expert or conservation architect, as to what works would be acceptable, prior to resubmitting further applications for consent.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because:
• there is insufficient evidence of fault in the way the Council has responded to his request for engagement.
• we cannot investigate alleged faults which affect all or most people in the Council’s area.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman