Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with planning matters on land Mr X owns. This is because part of the complaint is late as Mr X was aware of the Council’s position regarding a historic planning application in November 2020 but did not complain to the Ombudsman until June 2022. Mr X also had a right of appeal to the Secretary of State regarding delays in the Council reaching a decision on his planning application and there is no reason why he could not have pursued this.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council told him that planning permission on land he owns had expired. Mr X says development had commenced and he had to apply for a certificate of lawfulness to prove his case. Mr X says there have been delays in the Council responding to his complaints and he has incurred unnecessary costs.

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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 late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a @council/care provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal or a government minister or started court action about the matter. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6), as amended)
5. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a government minister. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(b))
6. The Planning Inspector acts on behalf of the responsible Government minister. The Planning Inspector considers appeals about:

• delay – usually over eight weeks – by an authority in deciding an application for planning permission
• a decision to refuse planning permission
• conditions placed on planning permission
• a planning enforcement notice.

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered information provided by the complainant and information about the planning history of the land on the Council’s website.
8. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

9. Mr X complained to the Council about how he had been treated by officers and advice he had received in late 2020. The Council responded to Mr X’s complaint in November 2020. It said it could not provide assurances that the planning permission had not expired. It said this was because there was uncertainty that work that had taken placed meant that development had been started. The Council advised Mr X to apply for a certificate of lawfulness if he wanted assurances on this. Mr X did so in April 2021. The Council reached its decision on the application in July 2021 and said the planning permission had not expired as development had commenced.
10. Mr X was aware of the Council’s position on this matter in November 2020. However he did not complain to the Ombudsman until June 2022. Therefore this is a late complaint. Whilst Mr X has made planning applications for the site in the intervening period there is no reason why he could not have come to the Ombudsman sooner if he was unhappy with the Council’s position.
11. Mr X submitted an application to change the plans for the original planning permission in April 2021. The Council did not issue a decision until March 2022. Mr X had a right of appeal to the Planning Inspector if the Council did not reach a decision on the application within 8 weeks of his application. There is no reason why Mr X could no have pursued an appeal if he was unhappy with the time taken to determine his application. Therefore we will not investigate this complaint as
    Mr X had a right of appeal to the Secretary of State.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is a late complaint and there is no good reason to investigate it now. Mr X also had a right of appeal to the Secretary of State if he was unhappy with the time taken by the Council to determine his planning application and there is no good reason why he could not have pursued this.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman