Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a prior approval application. This is because the complainant has not suffered significant injustice as a result of the alleged fault.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr X, has complained about how the Council dealt with his neighbour’s prior approval application. He says the Council failed to follow the proper processes and did not publicise the application as it should have.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:

• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

4. Councils are required to give publicity to planning applications. The publicity required depends on the nature of the development. However, in all cases the application must be published on the Council’s website.
5. In this case, the Council says a site notice was erected. Mr X says the site notice was taken down before the end of the consultation period. He says he notified the Council, but it failed to take any action. Mr X also says he should have been notified about the proposal as his property adjoins the application site.
6. However, even if the Council did not publicise the application as it should have, I do not consider Mr X has suffered any significant injustice as a result. Mr X was aware of the application and commented on the proposal. The case officer referred to Mr X’s comments in their report and addressed his concerns. The application for prior approval was also ultimately refused.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he has not suffered significant injustice as a result of the alleged fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman