Letter to the complainant from the LGO dated 11th June 2010
| Dear Mr Edmunds Complaint against Portsmouth City Council The Local Government Ombudsman has asked me to investigate your complaint. Here is a summary of the complaint as I understand it: That the Council: a)failed to implement a decision and instruction of the Planning Committee on 13 January 2010 to pursue a prosecution for non-compliance with an enforcement notice served in relation to breaches of planning control at 2 West Street, Portsmouth; b)gave misleading information on the extent of the action taken to implement the decision and instruction of the Planning Committee on 13 January 2010; c) failed to make available in the public gallery at the Planning Committee meeting on 3 March 2010 the green supplementary sheet; d)failed to make available on the Council's web site or to members of the public prior to the Planning Committee meeting on 3 March 2010 an Annex on Light Loss calculations referred to in the Brief for the site as presented to the Committee; e) failed to explain why the designated planning case officer for the first two deferred committee meetings about the development was replaced by another case officer for the Planning Committee meeting on 3 March 2010; f) failed to explain why the replacement case officer stated to the Planning Committee meeting on 3 March 2010 that light calculations had been carried out on a first floor window of your house, when a document you received from the planning department on 26 February 2010, that you were told was the Annex to the Brief and had been cleared by a senior officer, showed that it was not; g) based the consideration of the matter by the Planning Committee on 3 March 2010 on an incorrect and misleading statement by a senior officer that a decision on a previous complaint to the Ombudsman had related to 2 West Street when the complaint had been about development at 10 West Street; and h) gave inadequate consideration to your formal complaint about the above matters, failed to respond to the questions put and delayed unjustifiably in considering the complaint. If this is inaccurate or incomplete please let me know as soon as possible. I have sent a copy of the above summary with your complaint to the Council's Chief Executive and asked for the Council's comments. When I have received them and made any additional enquiries that may be necessary, I will write to you again. If you have additional information about your complaint, please send it to me. Also, if the Council takes action to resolve your complaint, please let me know. Yours sincerely Brian Miles Senior Investigator |
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