Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council granting planning permission for a development next to the complainant’s home. There is insufficient evidence of fault in the way the application was determined.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains about the Council granting planning permission for a development next to her home. In particular, she says:
• the application should have been determined by the Planning Committee instead of it being a delegated officer decision.
• the Council failed to properly consider its own parking/highway guidelines.
• the case officer’s private business interests represent a conflict of interest, and she questions whether he acted impartially.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

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

3. With regard to the first bullet point above, we can consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered:
• information provided by Ms X, which included the complaint responses.
• information about the planning application, as available on the Council’s website
• the Council’s scheme of delegation
• the Council’s ‘Parking guidance for new developments’.
• the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. I appreciate Ms X is unhappy about the Council’s decision to approve her neighbour’s planning application.
6. But the Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at whether there was fault in how the Council made its decision. If we decide there was no fault in how it did so, we cannot ask whether it should have made a particular decision or say it should have reached a different outcome.
7. I consider there to be insufficient evidence of fault in the way the Council reached its decision, so we will not start an investigation. In reaching this view, I am mindful that:
• each application is assessed on its own merits.
• the summary of objections in the officer’s recommendation report includes concerns about inadequate parking provision at the site. However, the volume/strength of local opposition or support for a proposal is not in itself a ground for refusing or granting planning permission.
• the parking guidance is listed in the report as a relevant supplementary planning guidance.
• the Highway Authority did not raise an objection to the application.
• the report goes on to consider the proposed parking, and explains why a shortfall is acceptable in this case. This is professional judgement the Council is entitled to reach, even if Ms X disagrees with it.
• information about the Council’s scheme of delegation is available online in the Council’s Constitution. It was open to the Parish Council or a Member to ‘call‑in’ the application, but they did not do so. The application therefore did not meet the criteria for being determined by the Planning Committee.
• I have seen no evidence to suggest the case officer’s private business interests affected his recommendation on the application, which was also reviewed by a senior planning officer before the permission was granted.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault in the way the Council reached its decision on the application.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman