Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with an application for a lawful development certificate. This is because Mrs X has the right to appeal to the Planning Inspector. Mrs X has also not suffered significant injustice.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council did not provide her Planning Consultant with information about historical planning applications for a property she owns. Mrs X says this put her at a disadvantage when applying for a Certificate of Lawfulness of Proposed Use or Development (CLOPUD), which was subsequently rejected. Mrs X wants the Council to repay all the costs she incurred submitting her planning application.

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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. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a government minister. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(b), as amended)
4. The Planning Inspector acts on behalf of the responsible Government minister. The Planning Inspector considers appeals about:

• Delay – usually over eight weeks – by an authority in deciding an application for planning permission
• A decision to refuse planning permission
• Conditions placed on planning permission
• A planning enforcement notice.

5. We 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 or continue an investigation if we decide any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

8. Mrs X can appeal to the Planning Inspector if she is unhappy with the Council’s decision to refuse her application.
9. I consider it would be reasonable for Mrs X to use her right to appeal. The Ombudsman will not usually investigate when someone has a right to appeal to the Planning Inspector, even if the appeal would not address all the issues complained about.
10. Mrs X complained the Council failed to provide historical planning information which put her at a disadvantage. But I do not consider she has suffered any significant injustice as a result as the Council’s assessment of the proposed development is it did not comply with Permitted Development size requirements. Therefore, the CLOPUD application would have likely still been refused even if Mrs X had more information about the property history.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because she has the right to appeal to the Planning Inspector. Mrs X has also not suffered any significant injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman