Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s planning process, which resulted in the grant of permission to a development. Mrs X has made the complaint on behalf of a parish council. We cannot investigate complaints from and made on behalf of public bodies.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains, on behalf of a Parish Council, about how the Borough Council’s planning process dealt with and granted permission for a development in the area.

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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 complaints from public bodies. (Local Government Act 1974, section 27(1)(a), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information from Mrs X, and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint. This is because Mrs X has brought the complaint on behalf of a Parish Council. It is not a complaint made by a member of the public.
6. We cannot by law investigate where someone is complaining as a member of a body constituted for the public good, which includes parish councils. The complaint is outside our jurisdiction.

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Final decision

7. We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is a complaint from a public body.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman