Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about a planning decision the Council made, including how it made its decision and the information it used. X has already used an alternative legal remedy to appeal the decision to the Planning Inspector, and the law does not allow us to investigate.

The complaint

1. X complained about several aspects of the way the Council decided to refuse a planning decision. They said it was procedurally unfair, used inaccurate information and was bias. They said the Council’s actions caused them financial and emotional strain and affected their reputation.
2. X also said they were unhappy with how the Council handled their complaint about these matters, saying it was ineffective and failed to respond to the issues they raised.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. The courts have said that where someone has sought a remedy by way of proceedings in any court of law, we cannot investigate. This is the case even if the appeal did not or could not provide a complete remedy for all the injustice claimed. (R v The Commissioner for Local Administration ex parte PH (1999) EHCA Civ 916)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. X said they were concerned about several aspects of a planning officers report and of their contact with other Council officers. They said the Council’s decisions were illogical when compared with other identical applications, which had been approved.
8. We cannot investigate this complaint. This is because the actions X complains of relates to a planning decision. That decision has been appealed to the Planning Inspector and the law I have highlighted at paragraph four means we cannot investigate.
9. Nor will we investigate the Council’s handling of X’s complaint because it is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaint handling, where we are unable to consider the substantive matters.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate X’s complaint because an appeal right has already been used in relation to the substantive decision.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman