Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council failed to notify residents about an appeal against its decision to refuse prior approval for a telecommunications mast. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. An investigation is unlikely to uncover evidence of fault by the Council, and the decision of the Planning Inspectorate is not within our jurisdiction.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, says the Council failed to notify residents that an appeal had been submitted against its decision to refuse prior approval for a telecommunications mast. He says this denied residents the opportunity to submit further representations on the proposal.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman can investigate 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 an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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

3. We cannot investigate the actions of bodies such as the Planning Inspectorate. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34A, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mr X, and our Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. During the Council’s complaints process, I understand it checked whether an appeal notification letter had been generated. It also checked the list of residents the letter should have been sent to. This included Mr X’s address.
6. I accept Mr X says he, and other residents, did not receive the appeal notification letter. But this could be because Royal Mail failed to deliver it. We cannot hold the Council responsible for such an error, and I have no other independent means of establishing why Mr X did not receive his letter. With reference to paragraph 2 above, there is currently insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and further investigation is unlikely to lead a different outcome, so the Ombudsman will not pursue the complaint further.
7. And whilst I appreciate Mr X is unhappy that permission was given for the development, that decision was made by the Planning Inspectorate. The Ombudsman has no power to consider complaints about the actions or decisions of the Planning Inspectorate.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint as it is unlikely to uncover evidence of fault by the Council, and the decision of the Planning Inspectorate is not within our jurisdiction.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman