Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council dealt with a complaint. This is because it does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints solely about the complaint process.

The complaint

1. The complainant, I shall call Mr B, says the Council has failed to properly deal with his complaint about a decision to grant permission for a planning application.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr B and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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Final decision

5. We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because we have previously considered Mr B’s complaint about the decision to grant planning permission under a separate reference number. We did not find fault in the way the Council came to its decision. We will not reinvestigate the same matter.
6. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.
    

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman