Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of the complainant’s planning application. The law does not allow us to investigate where the complainant has already used their right of appeal to the Planning Inspectorate. In addition, an investigation is unlikely to be able to establish whether officers acted with fault during conversations with the complainant.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council’s handling of his planning application did not meet the standards expected under the National Planning Policy Framework. He says at no point was he given the opportunity to make amendments or engage in any meaningful dialogue to explore alternatives before his application was refused. He also says he was rudely spoken to by officers.

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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 can 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. So, we do not start an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

4. And we cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a government minister. The Planning Inspector acts on behalf of a government minister and can consider appeals about a decision to refuse planning permission. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(b), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered:
• information provided by Mr X and the Council, which included their application and complaint correspondence.
• information about Mr X’s planning application, as available on the Council’s website.
• the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. I appreciate Mr X is complaining about inadequate engagement by the Council prior to the refusal of his planning application. But this is related to the planning decision, which has been appealed. With reference to paragraph 4 above, the Ombudsman cannot investigate when someone has appealed to the Planning Inspector, even if the appeal could not address all the issues complained about.
7. The Council has also confirmed it does not have recordings of Mr X’s telephone calls with officers. In the absence of independent evidence, an investigation by the Ombudsman is unlikely to establish what was said during those calls.

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Final decision

We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about the handling of his planning application because he has already used his right of appeal to the Planning Inspectorate. An investigation is also unlikely to be able to establish whether officers acted with fault during telephone conversations with Mr X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman