Ealing Council were ruled at fault by a Local Government Ombudsman (LGO), for their failure to publish an annual Authority Monitoring Report (AMR) for the past six years'.

The LGO ruled against Ealing Council and stated that 'there is a fault by the Council because it has not met its statutory duty to produce these reports.'

The findings came after a complaint was made by a member of the borough-wide alliance, Ealing Matters.

AMRs form part of Ealing's Local Plan, a set of documents that outline the long-term planning strategy for the borough.

An Ealing Matters representative said: "AMRs sound dry and dull, but they are a crucial tool in ensuring that the Council's Plan is on track.

"The failure of the Council to produce these statutorily required documents has made it impossible for residents to hold it to account on its planning decisions and easy for developers to claim that Ealing's Local Plan is out of date and therefore irrelevant.

"Having exhausted the Council's complaints procedure, one of our members decided to escalate the complaint to the LGO.

"We are delighted that they have found in residents' favour."

advertisement

They added that the last AMR published covered 2013/14, and that residents have been asking for the missing AMRs since 2016.

Ealing Matters referred to a recent appeal against the Planning Committee's decision not to approve the Manor Road tower by West Ealing station, as an example of when a lack of AMR's has influenced planning decisions.

According to the alliance, the barrister acting for the developer, Southern Grove, argued that there should be a 'presumption in favour of the development', precisely because the Council had failed to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply, which should be part of the AMR.

Addressing the Ombudsman report, an Ealing Council spokesperson said: "We are committed to being an open and transparent council – and working with residents to develop the Local Plan is a top priority.

"We will be engaging with people ahead of a formal consultation next year so everyone can have their say on how we build a better borough for all in the future.

"The council accepts the Ombudsman's findings and is taking steps to address the issue.

"Since May, the new administration has set out clear expectations for the AMR to be published.

"We are looking to publish an interim ARM imminently and the final report is due for publication in December."