Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her neighbour’s planning application. This is because the complaint is late and it would have been reasonable for Mrs X to bring it to us sooner.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mrs X, complains the Council failed to properly consider her concerns about a neighbour’s planning application when granting planning permission in 2021.

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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 has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mrs X was aware of her neighbour’s planning application in 2021 and commented on it at the time. The neighbour started work on the development in 2021 and Mrs X instructed an expert to prepare a report on its impact in 2022. The expert completed their report and issued it to Mrs X in July 2022 and Mrs X complained to the Council about its decision shortly afterwards.
6. The Council provided a final response to Mrs X’s complaint in April 2023 which stated:

“You can now ask the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (the Ombudsman) to review your complaint. You usually have up to 12 months to do this, starting from the date you first knew about the matter you complained about, not from the date of this letter.”

7. But Mrs X did not then refer the matter to us until February 2024. Her complaint is therefore late.
8. I have considered whether to exercise our discretion to investigate the complaint but I have seen no good reasons to do so. Mrs X had known about the Council’s decision for some 12 months before she complained to the Council about it and waited a further 10 months from the date of the Council’s final response to bring the complaint to us. In the circumstances I consider it would have been reasonable for Mrs X to bring the complaint to us sooner and I have therefore decided not to investigate the matter further.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the complaint is late and I have seen no good reasons to exercise our discretion to investigate it.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman