Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr and Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of their planning application. This is because it would have been reasonable for them to appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.

The complaint

1. The complainants, Mr and Mrs X, complain about the Council’s handling of their planning application.

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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. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a government minister. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(b))
4. The Planning Inspector acts on behalf of the responsible Government minister. The Planning Inspector considers appeals about:

• delay – usually over eight weeks – by an authority in deciding an application for planning permission
• a decision to refuse planning permission
• conditions placed on planning permission
• a planning enforcement notice.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I reviewed the information provided by Mr and Mrs X, shared my draft decision with them and invited their comments.

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What I found

6. Mr and Mrs X applied to the Council for planning permission in 2019. They complain the Council took too long to validate their application and dispute the way it reached its decision to refuse it. They would like the Council to respond to their queries about its handling of their application and reconsider its decision.
7. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. The Town and County Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015 provides a method to challenge delay in the validation process and any injustice Mr and Mrs X’s claim from the way the Council dealt with their planning application lies in the Council’s decision to refuse it. Had they felt this decision was wrong it would have been reasonable for them to appeal against it. It is not for the Ombudsman to question the Council’s judgement or the reasons for its decision as this is a matter which can be considered by the Planning Inspectorate as part of an appeal. Mr and Mrs X may also have appealed on the grounds of non-determination (delay) if they were unhappy with the time taken by the Council to decide the application.
8. Mr and Mrs X are also unhappy with the way the Council dealt with their complaint. But it is not a good use of public resources to look at the Council’s complaints handling if we are not going to look at the substantive issue complained about. We will not therefore investigate this issue separately.

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Final decision

9. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because it would have been reasonable for Mr and Mrs X to appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman