When things go wrong - Complaints and Challenges

If you have any complaints or questions about the decision, or the way we have handled the appeal, please write to:

The Planning Inspectorate
Quality Assurance Unit
4/11 Eagle Wing
Temple Quay House
2 The Square
Temple Quay
Bristol
BS1 6PN

Phone: 0117 372 8252
Fax: 0117372 8139
E-mail: complaints@pins.gsi.gov.uk

We will investigate your complaint and you can expect a full reply within three weeks.  However, we can't reconsider an appeal if we have already given a decision on it.  This can only happen if you successfully challenge the decision in the High Court.

The High Court

The only way you can appeal against the Inspector's decision is in the High Court.  To be successful, you would have to show that the Inspector misinterpreted the law or made an error in law.

If your challenge is successful, we will look at your appeal again.  But this doesn't necessarily mean that the original decision will be reversed.  The Inspector may come to the same decision again.

If you are going to challenge the Inspector's decision, you must apply to the High Court within six weeks of the date of the appeal decision.  We will send you a leaflet explaining this right with the Inspector's decision.  The Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (the Ombudsman).

If you think that we haven't treated you fairly, you can ask the Ombudsman to investigate.  You can't approach the Ombudsman direct - an MP must do it for you.  This doesn't have to be your MP but this will usually be the easiest person to ask.  Your local library will be able to give you the name and address of your MP.  The Ombudsman has no power to question the merits of your appeal or to alter the decision.  He or she is only concerned with the way we deal with appeals.  The Ombudsman will usually expect you to have made a complaint to us first before he or she investigates your case.

The Council on Tribunals

If you feel that there was something wrong with the basic procedure we used for your appeal, you can complain to the Council on Tribunals at:

22 Kingsway
London
WC2B 6LE

The council will take up your complaint if they think it concerns them.  Like the Ombudsman, they aren't concerned with the merits of your appeal and have no power to alter the decision.

The Local Government Ombudsman

If you have a complaint about the way the LPA dealt with your planning application, you can, in some cases, ask the Local Government Ombudsman to investigate.  However, the Local Government Ombudsman can't investigate a complaint about a planning decision just because you and the LPA don't agree about it and the Ombudsman has no power to alter the decision.  You can get a booklet explaining how to make a complaint by writing to the appropriate Local Government Ombudsman's office, or from their website www.lgo.org.uk.

There are three Local Government Ombudsmen in England.  Each of them deals with complaints from different parts of the country.

London boroughs north of the river Thames (including Richmond but not including Harrow or Tower Hamlets), Essex, Kent, Surrey, East and West Sussex, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and the City of Coventry:

Tony Redmond
Local Government Ombudsman
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London
SW1P 4QP

Phone: 020 7217 4620
Fax: 020 7217 4621

London Borough of Tower Hamlets, City of Birmingham, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and the north of England (except the Cities of York and Lancaster):

Patricia Thomas
Local Government Ombudsman
Beverley House
17 Shipton Road
York
YO30 5FZ

Phone: 01904 380200
Fax: 01904 380269

London boroughs south of the river Thames (except Richmond and Harrow) the Cities of York and Lancaster and the rest of England, not included in the areas of Mr Redmond and Mrs Thomas:

Jerry White
Local Government Ombudsman
The Oaks No 2
Westwood Way
Westwood Business Park
Coventry
CV4 8JB

Phone: 024 7682 0000
Fax: 024 7682 0001

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