London Borough of Havering (22 004 217)
Category : Planning > Planning applications
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 28 Jun 2022
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with the complainant’s planning application or its decision to take enforcement action against him. This is because the complainant has appealed to the Planning Inspector.
The complaint
- The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr X, has complained about how the Council dealt with his planning application and its decision to take enforcement action. Mr X says the Council did not deal with him fairly and did not act in line with the relevant law. He says the planning and enforcement decisions were based on assumptions and false information.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a government minister. The Planning Inspector acts on behalf of a government minister. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(b), as amended)
- 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.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The Ombudsman cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to refuse his planning application or its decision to serve an enforcement notice. This is because he has appealed to the Planning Inspector about the Council’s decisions and the Ombudsman cannot investigate matters where someone has already used their appeal right.
- I understand Mr X’s complaint also relates to how the application and enforcement investigation were handled by the Council. But these issues are related to the matters that have been appealed. The Ombudsman cannot investigate when someone has appealed to the Planning Inspector, even if the appeal will not address all the issues complained about.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint because he has used his right to appeal to the Planning Inspector.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman