Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the planning advice the Council gave the complainant. This is because we are unlikely to find fault.

The complaint

1. Mr X has complained the Council incorrectly told him he did not need planning permission to replace the windows in his property. Mr X says he followed the Council’s advice. However, after replacing the windows the Council told him planning permission was needed. Mr X applied for retrospective permission, but his application was refused. Mr X says he has incurred significant costs because of the incorrect advice and the Council should compensate him.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
3. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Many councils offer a range of pre-application advice services. In this case, the Council offers a free of charge advice service for all types of applications. It also has a planning duty officer advice service so someone can call and ask simple planning questions.
6. Mr X used the Council’s informal planning duty call line. The Council says there is no record for the call and the officer on duty at the time does not recall any specific details due to the number of telephone calls that would have been received on the same day.
7. While I do not know what was discussed when Mr X spoke to the Council, any advice given would have been informal and based on the information available. The Council is not bound by the pre-application advice it provides and the only way to get a definitive view regarding the need for planning permission would be to apply for a Certificate of Lawfulness of Proposed Use or Development. It is also clear from the Council’s website that officers are unable to give confirmation about the need for planning permission on the duty call line.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we are unlikely to find fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman