The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a planning application. The complaint is late and there is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate it now.
The complaint
Mr X complained the Council granted outline planning permission for a development and included reference to a previous planning application which had been refused. He said he had been denied his lawful opportunity to submit his representations about the proposed development. He wanted the Council to acknowledge it had not considered the planning application in line with the law.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council granted planning permission for the development Mr X had complained about in October 2016. Mr X did not complain to the Ombudsman until October 2025. Therefore, this is a late complaint and we should not investigate. We have discretion to set aside this restriction where we decide there are good reasons. In this case I have decided not to exercise discretion because it is reasonable to expect Mr X to have complained to us about the planning permission sooner.
Mr X also complained about how the Council responded to his complaint. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we decide not to deal with the substantive issue.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the complaint is late and there is no good reason to investigate it now.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman