Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with the complainant’s planning application. This is because we are unlikely to find fault and an investigation is unlikely to achieve a worthwhile outcome.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr X, has complained the Council declined to determine his planning application. Mr X says his new proposal is significantly different from the previously refused applications and the Council’s decision is unsupported by legislation and guidance. Mr X says his planning applications should be validated and considered by the Council.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating,
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

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

3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Town and Country Planning Act allows a local planning authority to decline to determine an application in certain circumstances. This includes where the Secretary of State has dismissed an appeal against the refusal of a similar application and the council considers there is no significant change since the dismissal.
6. The Council has declined to determine Mr X’s application as it says the proposal is similar in many ways to the applications he has previously appealed and is for an identical site area. It also says there have been no material changes to planning policy to justify it accepting the application.
7. I understand Mr X disagrees and says he has made many changes to the plans to address the concerns raised by the Planning Inspectorate. However, it is for the Council to decide if the provisions of section 70A of the Town and Country Planning Act apply, not the Ombudsman. If Mr X disagreed with the Council’s decision to use its powers under section 70A, he could have pursued the matter through the courts. The Council has also explained why it considers section 70A should apply in the circumstances and why it considers the proposals similar. Therefore, it is unlikely I could find fault in this regard or that an investigation could achieve a worthwhile outcome.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we are unlikely to find fault and an investigation is unlikely to achieve a worthwhile outcome

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman