The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s pre-application planning advice. This is because there is no evidence of fault and the Council’s actions have not caused Mr X significant injustice. If Mr X wishes to challenge the advice he should do so via the formal planning application process and, if necessary, by appealing against the Council’s decision.
The complaint
The complainant, Mr X, complains about the Council’s pre-application planning advice. He says the Council agreed to visit his property in person but provided a desk-based analysis suggesting it would not support his proposal.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Councils charge for pre-application planning advice to cover their costs in analysing a proposal and providing a response. Pre-application advice is not intended to be exhaustive and there is no requirement to carry out a site visit.
Mr X paid only £50 for the Council’s pre-application advice service and cannot reasonably expect an officer to visit his property and have in-depth discussions about it for this level of cost.
While I appreciate Mr X disagrees with the Council’s advice and says it has granted permission for other development which is similar to his proposal this is an argument for the full application process. Pre-application advice is informal and non-binding and carries no right of appeal. If Mr X disagrees with the advice he may choose to ignore it and apply for planning permission anyway. He can then make reference to any similar development as part of the process and in any appeal against the Council’s decision.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is unlikely we would find fault by the Council and its actions have not caused Mr X significant injustice.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman