Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about planning advice. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council gave her inaccurate information about submitting a Certificate of Lawfulness. She also complains about how her complaint was handled.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Miss X complains the Council told her to apply for a Certificate of Lawfulness she later found out she did not need. The Council says that it told Miss X to submit a pre-application enquiry but she decided against this. It says the advice she was given was correct and in line with relevant guidance. I will not investigate this complaint as the Council has acted in line with its procedures.
6. I will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about how the Council responded to her complaint. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint handling when we are not investigating the substantive matter.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate Miss 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