8.1 The letter we send out to let people know we have received the order will give the name of the officer dealing with the case. You should contact this person first if you have any questions or complaints about the way the order is being handled. If you are not happy with the way your problem is dealt with, you can contact our Quality Assurance Unit at:

The Planning Inspectorate
4/09 Hawk Wing
Temple Quay House
2 The Square
Temple Quay
Bristol
BS1 6PN

8.2 If you have any complaints or questions about a decision, or about the way we have handled the Order, please write to the Quality Assurance Unit at the above address.

The Quality Assurance Unit will either respond diretly to you, or ask a section within the Inspectorate to reply, because they have specific knowledge.
We will investigate your complaint and you can expect a full reply within three weeks. However, we can’t reconsider an Order if we have already given our final decision on it. The only time we will reconsider an Order is if you successfully challenge our decision in the High Court.

The High Court

8.3 You can challenge the decision of the Secretary of State or the inspector on legal grounds in the High Court.

8.4 If the inspector has confirmed the order, you must apply to the High Court within 6 weeks of the decision being published in the newspaper.

8.5 If the inspector has not confirmed the order, you must apply to the High Court within 3 months of the date of the inspector's decision.

8.6 For your challenge to be successful, you would have to show that:

the inspector or the Secretary of State had overstepped their powers in some way; or
any relevant criteria had not been met and this has damaged your interests.

The Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (the Ombudsman)

8.7 If you think that you have been treated unfairly because we or the inspector have not done our job properly, you can ask the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (the Ombudsman) to investigate. You cannot contact the Ombudsman direct. You must go through a Member of Parliament (MP). This does not have to be your local MP, but in most cases this will be the easiest person to approach. (You will find their name and address in the local library.) The Ombudsman has no power to question the merit of the order or to change the decision.

The Administrative Justice & Tribunals Council

8.8 If you consider that there was something wrong with the basic procedure we used to process the order, you can complain to the Administrative Justice & Tribunals Council at:

81 Chancery Lane
London
WC2A 1BQ

The Council will take the matter up if they think it comes within their powers. They are not concerned with the merit of the order and have no powers to change the decision.

The Local Ombudsman

8.9 If you have a complaint about the way the authority has handled the order the Local Ombudsman may be able to help. But the Local Ombudsman cannot question the merit of an order or change the decision. There are three Local Government Ombudsmen in England. Each of them deals with complaints from different parts of the country:

You can get a booklet explaining how to make a complaint by writing to :

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

       Tony Redmond
       Local Government Ombudsman
       10th Floor
       Millbank Tower
       Millbank
       London SW1P 4QP
       Phone: 020 7217 4620
       Fax: 020 7217 4621

London Borough of Tower Hamlets, City of Birmingham, Solihull MBC, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Warwickshire and the North of England (except the cities of Lancaster, Manchester and York:

       Anne Seex
       Local Government Ombudsman
       Beverley House
       17 Shipton Road
       York YO30 5FZ
       Tel: 01904 380200
       Fax: 01904 380269

London boroughs South of the River Thames (except Richmond) and Harrow; the cities of Lancaster, Manchester and York; and the rest of England, not included in the areas of Tony Redmond and Anne Seex:

       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