Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of his planning application. If Mr X believes the Council failed to properly consider his application it would have been reasonable for him to appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains about the Council’s handling of his planning application. He claims financial loss in the cost of preparing and submitting his application.

Back to top

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.

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

5. I reviewed Mr X’s complaint and the Council’s response. I shared my draft decision with Mr X and considered his comments.

Back to top

What I found

6. Mr X applied to the Council for planning permission in 2019. The Council refused his application but Mr X complains it failed to consider his application properly; he is also unhappy it referred to pre-application advice provided some time ago to a third party. He complained to the Council but was not happy with its handling of his complaint.
7. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. If Mr X believes the Council failed to properly consider his planning application, and that it was therefore wrong to refuse it, it would have been reasonable for him to appeal to the Planning Inspectorate. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body and it is not for us to say the Council should have reached a different decision on the application. We also cannot overturn its decision as the Inspectorate can.
8. Mr X believes the Council’s reference to pre-application advice provided to a third party amounts to a breach of data protection but this does not directly affect him. If he wishes to pursue the matter he may refer it to the Information Commissioner but as he is claiming it released a third party’s data without permission, rather than his own, we would not recommend a remedy for Mr X.
9. While Mr X is also unhappy about the way the Council has dealt with his complaint, the courts have said that where we cannot investigate a complaint about the main or underlying issue, we cannot normally investigate related issues either. (R (on the application of M) v Commissioner for Local Administration in England [2006] EWHC 2847 (Admin)). So, where the substance of a complaint is not subject to investigation, the Ombudsman does not investigate the Council’s handling of the issue in isolation.

Back to top

Final decision

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

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman