Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X and Mrs Y’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to provide information relating to previous planning applications at their property without charge. They have made a ‘freedom of information’ request and if they are not happy with the Council’s handling of the request it would be reasonable for them to take the matter to the Information Commissioner. We cannot investigate their concerns about the Council’s handling of their planning application as they have appealed to the Planning Inspectorate.

The complaint

1. The complainants, Mr X and Mrs Y, complain about irregularities and unlawful behaviour by the Council in dealing with their planning application. They requested access to the Council’s planning register but are unhappy with the Council’s handling of their request.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

3. The Information Commissioner's Office considers complaints about freedom of information. Its decision notices may be appealed to the First Tier Tribunal (Information Rights). So where we receive complaints about freedom of information, we normally consider it reasonable to expect the person to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner.
4. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a government minister. We may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal but cannot investigate if the person has already appealed. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(b))
5. 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

6. I reviewed Mr X and Mrs Y’s complaint, the details of their planning application and appeal case, and the Council’s appeal case and supporting documents. I shared my draft decision with Mr X and Mrs Y and considered their comments.

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What I found

7. Mr X and Mrs Y sought pre-application advice from the Council about developing their property in 2019. The Council provided a comprehensive response and highlighted a restrictive condition on the original planning permission for their property which required parking spaces to be kept permanently available for parking. It therefore explained that in order to alter the existing parking spaces it was likely they would need planning permission.
8. Mr X and Mrs Y asked the Council for access to all planning applications relating to their property and say the Council initially agreed to this. However it then told them previous applications had been archived and they would need to pay for access. Mr X and Mrs Y are unhappy with this and say they could have made a ‘freedom of information’ request for the documentation without the need to pay. They also complain the Council failed to meet with them regarding their planning application, which the Council refused to determine.
9. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. Mr X and Mrs Y have appealed to the Planning Inspectorate against the Council’s failure to determine their application and as a result we cannot investigate any complaint about the Council’s handling of the case.
10. While the Council’s request for payment to provide information about former planning applications concerning Mr X and Mrs Y’s property is a separate matter I will not investigate this issue as it does not cause the complainants significant injustice. They note they can obtain the information free of charge as part of a ‘freedom of information’ request and they have recently requested this information from the Council. If the Council does not release the information requested Mr X and Mrs Y may take the matter to the Information Commissioner. The Commissioner is better placed to consider complaints about the provision of information under relevant legislation and if Mr X and Mrs Y disagree with their decision they may appeal.

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Final decision

11. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because Mr X and Mrs Y have made a ‘freedom of information’ request to the Council and if the Council refuses to provide the information it would be reasonable for them to take the matter to the Information Commissioner.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman