Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council approving a certificate of lawful development application. It is reasonable to expect the complainant to have contacted us sooner and, in any case, there is insufficient evidence of fault in the way it determined the application.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council’s approval of her neighbour’s certificate of lawful development application contradicts its climate change emergency commitments.
2. She says she relied on the Council’s commitments when making a substantial financial investment in a solar installation at her property, and says this is now undermined by the neighbour’s extension.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. 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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
5. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by Mrs X, and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. The time restriction detailed in paragraph 5 above applies to Mrs X’s complaint. This is because the application was determined in August 2023, yet Mrs X did not contact us until March 2026. I see no reasons why we should exercise discretion to investigate this late complaint now.
8. And even if this time restriction did not apply, I see no evidence of fault in the way the Council determined the application. This is because the permitted development thresholds/criteria are set nationally, and the Council had no power to refuse the application on the basis of its own planning policies or commitments.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is reasonable to expect her to have contacted us sooner and, in any case, there is insufficient evidence of fault in the way the Council assessed the application.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman