The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to waive Community Interest Levy interest charges. We have not seen sufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s actions. Also, we cannot achieve the outcome Miss X wants.
The complaint
Miss X complains that the Council refuses to waive the Community Interest Levy (CIL) interest charges.
She says the interest charges accrued because her appeal against the CIL was delayed when the Planning Inspectorate lost her appeal documents.
She would like the Council to waive the interest charges and refund what she has paid towards the interest charges so far.
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 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 we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Miss X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Miss X appealed in 2022 to the Planning Inspectorate against the CIL. The Planning Inspectorate wrote to her in 2024 to tell her that it had lost her appeal documents and asked her to submit them again.
Although she successfully appealed the CIL, the interest charges were still due.
Miss X wants the Council to waive the interest charges because she feels it is not her fault that her documents were lost.
Although I acknowledge her frustration, I can see that the Council have already explained that they have no discretion to waive the interest charges, however they may have accrued.
Also, it was not the Council who lost her appeal documents. I have therefore not found enough evidence of fault with the Council’s actions and decision.
Furthermore, an investigation would be unlikely to achieve the outcome Miss X wants because we cannot require the Council to waive the interest charges.
I also note the Planning Inspectorate have already apologised to Miss X for losing her documents.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because we have not seen enough evidence of fault in the Council’s actions. Also, we cannot achieve the outcome Miss X wants because we are unable to ask the Council to waive the interest charges.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman