Summary: Mr X, on behalf of his daughter Ms Z, complained the Council refused to refund a planning application fee as required by the planning guarantee. The Council failed to either determine the planning application within 26 weeks or reach a written agreement with the applicant to extend this timescale. This is fault. The Council will apologise and refund the application fee.

The complaint

1. Mr X, on behalf of his daughter Ms Z, complains the Council has refused to refund a planning application fee as required by the planning guarantee.
2. Mr X says he has missed out on a refund his is entitled to.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. As part of the investigation, I have:
• considered the complaint and the documents provided by the complainant’s representative;
• discussed the issues with the complainant’s representative;
• sent my draft decision to both the Council and the complainant and taken account of their comments in reaching my final decision.

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What I found

Planning guarantee

6. The planning guarantee is a government policy that no planning application should spend more than a year with decision makers. This means the local planning authority must decide a planning application within 26 weeks, allowing a further 26 weeks for any appeal. However, the local planning authority can exceed the 26 week timescale if it makes a written agreement with the planning applicant setting out a timescale for a decision to be made.

Key facts

7. The Council, as the local planning authority, validated Ms Z’s planning application on 16 May. This means that by 13 November, the Council should either have determined the planning application or made a written agreement with Ms Z to exceed this timescale. The Council did neither.
8. In response to a complaint about its failure to refund the planning fee, the Council said the following:
• Planning officers were working closely with Ms Z’s planning agent;
• The planning agent was submitting additional information and so in control of the timescale;
• The case officer accepted in good faith that the final timescale for determination would be agreed once all the issues were resolved;
• There were no delays by the Council;
• While no specific date was agreed for an extension, the ongoing written correspondence demonstrated an agreed understanding; and
• The Council would have issued a decision at any time if the agent requested it to.
9. While acknowledging the Council was acting in good faith in this case and working with the applicant to reach a positive outcome, it failed to take the action that was required by the planning guarantee. If as it says, there was an understanding between it and Ms Z’s agent about the timescale, then there is no reason why a written agreement specifying a new decision date could not have been made.
10. I have not seen any evidence to show the Council approached the agent prior to 13 November to discuss the planning guarantee or that a written agreement was needed. The responsibility for determining the planning application within the required timescales rests with the Council. As it failed to take the required action to either determine the application or put an agreed extension in writing, then it was required to refund the application fee. Its failure to do this is fault.

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Agreed action

11. Within one month of my final decision the Council will take the following action:
• Apologise to Mr X and Ms Z;
• Refund the planning application fee; and
• Remind planning officers of the planning guarantee and put systems in place to ensure action is taken to meet the required timescales.
12. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

13. I have completed my investigation with a finding of fault for the reasons explained in this statement. The Council has agreed to implement the actions I have recommended. These appropriately remedy any injustice caused by fault.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman