The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of his neighbour’s planning application. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council affecting its decision. We also cannot achieve the outcome Mr X wants.
The complaint
The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council’s decision to grant planning permission for his neighbour’s extension was based on inaccurate information and affected by fault. He says the plans were not suitable and the planning officer did not visit his property. He believes the proposal will impact on his property and he wants the Council to revoke its decision and take disciplinary action against the planning officer.
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
The Council accepts some errors in the wording of the planning officer’s report but has explained this did not affect the outcome of the application. While Mr X is concerned about the plans the Council has explained why there are different plans and the planning officer’s report sets out the reasons the proposal is acceptable. We cannot question the officer’s judgement.
We also cannot achieve the outcome Mr X wants as we have no power to overturn the Council’s decision and cannot recommend disciplinary action against individual officers.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault affecting the decision and we cannot achieve the outcome Mr X wants.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman