The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to consultation about a planning application. This is because any injustice Mr X claims stems from the decision to grant planning permission, rather than from the Council’s advice to the local planning authority. The local planning authority, rather than the Council, is responsible for this decision.
The complaint
Mr X complains about the Council’s response to consultation, in its role as local highway authority, from the local borough council on a planning application for development near his home.
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 do not start an investigation if we decide 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
While Mr X believes the Council’s advice to the borough council was flawed, its advice was only one of several material planning considerations the borough council had to take account of when deciding the planning application. It was for the borough council to decide how much weight to give the advice and it could also have decided to go against it entirely had it felt there were good reasons to do so.
The Council did not make the decision to grant planning permission and we cannot therefore hold it responsible for any injustice Mr X says results from it. We also cannot recommend the Council provides a remedy for the impact of the decision, as the decision itself was outside the Council’s control.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint. This is because we cannot achieve any worthwhile outcome for Mr X. Any injustice Mr X claims is the result of the decision to grant planning permission and the Council is not responsible for this decision.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman