Agenda item

To inform Council of recent determinations of complaints against this Council issued by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

Members were aware that the Council’s Constitution (Article 12.03(a)) required the Monitoring Officer to report to Council (or to Cabinet for executive functions) if any decision or omission had given rise to maladministration.  This report concerned two decisions/omissions that the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman had determined were maladministration.

It was reported that, on 20 May 2021, the Ombudsman had determined a complaint submitted to it in relation to a planning application matter. The complaint had concerned the use of a neighbouring property and the approval of a planning application for that property.   The complaint had set out alleged impropriety in the process leading to approval of the application.  The Ombudsman had considered those allegations and had not upheld them.  The Ombudsman had however identified an issue with Council notifications to those properties abutting or adjoining the site that had been subject to the planning application concerned.  Whilst those neighbours had been correctly notified, a further two properties that had been recognised by the Council’s Planning Officer as relevant had not had notification letters sent to them.  The conclusion of the Ombudsman was that those two properties should have been sent notification letters.  As such the Ombudsman had found maladministration on the Council’s part; but that there had been no injustice to the complainant.  The Council had agreed with the request from the Ombudsman for advice to be sent to Planning Department staff on this matter and its wider implications for applications. This advice had been circulated and the Ombudsman had accepted that this had concluded the matter.  The Council intended, by following the advice circulated, to avoid a similar issue arising.

It was further reported that, on 30 June 2021, the Ombudsman had determined another complaint submitted to it in relation to a different planning application. This planning application had been for prior approval for a change of use of a barn on land adjacent to the complainant’s home and business. In this case the prior approval application had been received and, a few days later, the relevant payment for it had been received. However, due to a discrepancy in address details given on the application form and with the payment, the link had not been made between the two within the eight weeks permitted to determine such an application. Accordingly, the application had been deemed approved once the eight weeks had passed since it had been received.  This was maladministration on the Council’s part.

The failure in the processing of the prior approval application meant that the complainant had not been notified of it and therefore had been denied the opportunity to make representations on it.  This had amounted to injustice.  The Council had apologised for its error and had offered the sum of £100 in recognition of the error.   The Ombudsman had considered that the sum payable to the complainant should be £500 in this case.  Arrangements for this sum to be paid were underway together with a further apology for the error. Internal procedures had already identified the potential issue of planning application fees not being linked to an application and those changes had been implemented.  This in turn had been acknowledged by the Ombudsman.

Council was made aware that the Ombudsman’s next Annual Review Letter, summarising complaints submitted to the Ombudsman in 2020/21 and the outcome of those complaints, was expected to be received later on during July 2021.

Council noted the foregoing.