Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to stop publishing planning application comments online. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s decision to justify investigating.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council’s decision to stop publishing planning application comments online, citing data protection compliance issues.
2. Mr X said this meant the process was no longer transparent. Mr X said the value of seeing comments online was significant when viewing planning applications for the road where he lives.
3. Mr X wants the Council to start publishing planning application comments again, and to ensure future policy changes are properly scrutinised before coming into force.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Mr X.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. There is no legal requirement for councils to publish planning application comments online. The law only requires they are available for public inspection as part of the statutory planning register, which can be done at a council office.
8. Our role is not to ask whether an organisation could have done things better, or whether we agree or disagree with what it did. Instead, we look at whether there was fault in how it made its decisions. If we decide there was no fault in how it did so, we cannot ask whether it should have made a particular decision or say it should have reached a different outcome.
9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. From the evidence I have seen, the Council has followed its policy and is not legally obliged to publish planning applications online. There is therefore not enough evidence of fault in how the Council made its decision to justify investigating.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman