The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of his planning application, which it refused. This is because it would have been reasonable for Mr X to appeal the Council’s decision to the Planning Inspector.
The complaint
Mr X was unhappy the Council refused his planning application. He believed the facts it relied on were inaccurate and it did not meaningfully engage with him on the matter. Mr X also said the Council delayed addressing his complaint to prevent him appealing the matter.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X submitted a planning application to the Council, which it then went on to refuse. Within the Council’s decision notice, it set out how Mr X could appeal this decision to the Planning Inspector if he disagreed. Mr X made a complaint to the Council and then approached us, because he was unhappy with the Council’s explanations for its decisions.
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because where there is a right of appeal about the subject of the complaint, in this instance to refuse planning permission, we expect complainants to use that appeal right. Additionally, it would have been reasonable for Mr X to use this appeal right because he wanted the Council to approve his request and Parliament expressly provided the right of appeal as a means to that end.
Mr X was also unhappy with how the Council dealt with his complaint about these matters. We will not investigate this either, because we do not investigate complaints, where we are not looking at the substantive matters.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint. This is because it would have been reasonable for Mr X to appeal against the Council’s decision for refusing his planning application.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman