Summary: We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her planning application. This is because Mrs X has used her right of appeal to the Planning Inspector and we cannot investigate any complaint about the Council’s actions as part of her appeal.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mrs X, complains about the Council’s handling of her planning application. She says council officers gave incorrect information to the planning committee and the Planning Inspector to influence the outcome of her application, refused to remove a member of staff from the case, failed to consider new information and did not properly deal with her ‘freedom of information’ request.

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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 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)
4. The Information Commissioner's Office considers complaints about freedom of information. Its decision notices may be appealed to the First Tier Tribunal (Information Rights). So where we receive complaints about freedom of information, we normally consider it reasonable to expect the person to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Because Mrs X has appealed against the Council’s decision to refuse her planning application we cannot investigate any complaint about the Council’s handling of the application itself. We also cannot investigate the Council’s actions as part of Mrs X’s appeal. If Mrs X had concerns about the information provided by the Council she should have raised this with the Planning Inspector.
8. Mrs X is clearly unhappy with the way the Council dealt with her ‘freedom of information’ request but it would be reasonable for her to take this matter to the Information Commissioner. They are the experts in these matters and are better placed to decide whether the Council complied with its obligations.
9. While Mrs X is also unhappy about the way the Council dealt with her complaint, the courts have said that where we cannot investigate a complaint about the main or underlying issue, we cannot normally investigate related issues either. (R (on the application of M) v Commissioner for Local Administration in England [2006] EWHC 2847 (Admin)). So, where the substance of a complaint is not subject to investigation, the Ombudsman does not investigate the Council’s handling of the issue in isolation.

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Final decision

10. We cannot investigate this complaint. This is because Mrs X has used her right of appeal to the Planning Inspectorate and we cannot investigate what happened as part of her appeal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman