Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about fees the Council has charged for planning applications. This is mainly because the complaint is late without good enough reason for us to investigate it now.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains on behalf of five clients. He says the Council has charged his clients wrongly for their planning applications. He says this means his clients experienced delays with their planning applications due to arguments about the fees and spent more on fees than necessary.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
3. We 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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. The planning applications and relevant fees were between late 2019 and late 2023. Mr X provided correspondence that showed he believed the fees were wrong by late 2019.
7. Mr X complained to us in late August 2025. It is reasonable to suppose Mr X would have advised his clients he believed the Council was charging the wrong fee each time he argued the point with the Council. Therefore, the restriction in paragraph 2 applies. Mr X, on behalf of his clients, was evidently able to pursue matters with the Council. He could reasonably have complained to us within 12 months each time he thought the Council had overcharged one of his clients. I appreciate Mr X’s complaint to us follows a more recent Planning Inspector’s decision that mentioned fees; however, this issue was not new then. Mr X’s correspondence highlights he, and by extension presumably his clients, were aware of the matter much sooner. There is not good enough reason for us to accept the complaint now.
8. Even if the complaint was not late, or there were good reasons to accept the late complaint, the restriction in paragraph 3 would also mean we would not investigate. This is because one of Mr X’s clients appealed to the Planning Inspector and included a request for costs about the fees. Although Mr X’s other clients did not do this, their argument is essentially the same. As it is too closely linked to a matter considered by the Planning Inspector, it is not something we can investigate.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the complaint is late without good enough reason to investigate. We also cannot comment on something a Planning Inspector has decided.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman