Summary: The Ombudsman cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s pre-application planning advice. Mrs X raises the complaint on behalf of a Parish Council and the law does not allow us to investigate complaints raised by public bodies.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mrs X, complains the Council has not properly considered the Parish Council’s concerns about advice given by a planning officer.

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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 cannot investigate complaints from public bodies. (Local Government Act 1974, section 27(1)(a), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I reviewed Mrs X’s complaint and shared my decision with her.

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What I found

5. Mrs X, on behalf of the Parish Council, complains about pre-application advice provided by a planning officer to a property developer. She suggests the officer failed to properly consider policies and to note key characteristics of the application site. She also says the Council wrongly assessed the proposal. She complained to the Council but was not happy with its response.
6. The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint. Our role is to investigate complaints by members of the public who have suffered personal injustice as a result of maladministration or service failure. The Parish Council is a public body and the law does not allow us to investigate any complaint raised on its behalf.

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Final decision

7. The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint as the complainant is not a member of the public.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman