Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a planning application. This is because the matter has been subject to court proceedings and therefore outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr X, has complained about how the Council dealt with a planning application for a site near his home. He says the application was not properly publicised and objections were not taken into account. Mr X has also complained the Council inappropriately accepted an application to vary the planning conditions rather than a full 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. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)
4. 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 the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I have considered Mr X’s complaint and the Council’s responses. I invited Mr X to comment on a draft of this decision and have considered his comments in response.

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What I found

What happened

6. The Council received an application to vary planning conditions attached to a site near Mr X’s home. The application was referred to the Council’s planning committee for determination and permission was granted. Following this, an application was made for a Judicial Review of the Council’s decision and the court has now quashed the permission.

Assessment

7. Mr X has complained about how the Council dealt with the planning application. However, the planning decision has been subject to court proceedings and the Ombudsman cannot investigate a complaint which has already been considered by the courts. I understand Mr X says his concerns about how the Council dealt with the application were not considered in court. But the Council’s handling of the application is related to the planning decision which has been subject to a Judicial Review. Therefore, we cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about how the Council dealt with the application even if the court proceedings did not provide a remedy for all the injustice claimed.
8. In any event, the court quashed the planning permission. Therefore, I cannot say Mr X has been caused any significant injustice as a result of the Council’s handling of the application.

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Final decision

9. We cannot investigate this complaint. This is because the complaint is outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman