The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a Planning Committee meeting because the complaint has not been made by a member of the public and the planning application has not yet been determined.
The complaint
Mr X complains about the way the Planning Committee considered a planning application. He says he was surprised and offended by the Planning Committee’s actions.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We can only accept complaints from members of the public who claim to have suffered injustice, or from their authorised representative. This means we cannot accept complaints from councillors complaining on behalf of their council because they are not doing so as a member of the public. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26A, as amended) We 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. We do not start or continue 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.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X, a councillor, complains that the Planning Committee considered an opinion expressed by a Planning Officer before considering a planning application. He says this affected the outcome.
The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint from a Councillor as he is not a member of the public. They may make their own complaint. Further, the planning application has not yet been determined so any injustice is speculative.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it has not been made by a member of the public and the planning application has not yet been determined.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman