Summary: Mr X complains about the Council’s handling of a planning application for a large-scale development in his locale. We will not investigate the complaint because the Council has taken the action Mr X sought as an outcome to his complaint and an investigation would be unlikely to add significantly to the Council’s own investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Mr X, complains about information missing from the Council’s planning website which he was not able to comment on during the public consultation period. He also complains about delay in the handling of his complaint.

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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 X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
5. I gave Mr X the opportunity to comment on my draft decision and considered what he said.

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My assessment

6. Mr X complained to the Council about information missing from its website in connection with a planning application he was concerned with. As an outcome to his complaint, he sought the withdrawal of the planning approval the application had been given and for the process, including public consultation, to be carried out again.
7. The Council has recently confirmed the approval previously given no longer stands and instead the application has been put back to the start of the process so members of the public will have the opportunity to study all the supporting documentation and comment. In responding to Mr X’s complaint, the Council acknowledged he had had to wait too long to be provided with the explanations he had sought, and it apologised for this.
8. While I understand Mr X has been frustrated with the Council’s handling of matters, it has taken the action he sought to resolve his complaint. We do not investigate every complaint we receive, and I do not consider an investigation would usefully add to that already carried out by the Council.
9. Following my draft decision, Mr X sent me his comments on the Council’s Stage 2 response to his complaint which set out issues he remains unhappy with. He said that while the application will be re-run as he had wanted, the Council has never said this was in response to his complaint and that it has not made any commitment not to allow the redaction of important documents/information again. While Mr X’s comments are noted, it remains the case he has the outcome he sought and an investigation by the Ombudsman will not add to any significant degree to that already carried out by the Council. We will not investigate issues concerning complaint handling when we are not investigating the substantive issue.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the Council has taken the action Mr X sought as an outcome to his complaint and an investigation would be unlikely to add significantly to the Council’s own investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman