The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council has considered Mr X’s complaint about a Parish Council and Councillor. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault in how the Council reached a decision on the complaint. Mr X has also not been caused an injustice as a result of the Council’s actions relating to the time taken to consider the complaint.
The complaint
Mr X complains there have been delays in the Council responding to his complaint about the actions of a Parish Council and Parish Councillor. Mr X says this has caused him frustration.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6)) We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended) The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. We cannot investigate the actions of bodies such as parish councils. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34A, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council has investigated Mr X’s complaint. The complaint was made in November 2021 and the Council issued its response in July 2022. The Council has said that it updated Mr X for the reasons it was unable to conclude its consideration of his complaint sooner.
The Council has reviewed the matter Mr X complains of. The Council considers the mater was resolved when an apology was given to the Parish Council because it had not been given full information before making a decision. The Parish Council resolved to accept the apology. The Council has taken action to ensure that records are being updated.
We cannot investigate the actions of the Parish Council. Therefore we are limited to considering how the Council has dealt with the complaint. The Council has now resolved the matter and there is insufficient evidence of fault in how it reached its conclusions. Mr X may disagree with the action the Council has taken but this is an option open to it under its Standards Complaints process and so we cannot criticise the decision itself.
The Council has not met the timescales set out in its Standards Complaints process for responding to the complaint. However it appears that this was outside the Council’s control and it has provided Mr X with updates on its progress during this time. Therefore Mr X has not been caused an injustice by the actions of the Council and we will not investigate this complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault in how the Council reached a decision on the complaint. Mr X has also not been caused an injustice as a result of the Council’s actions relating to the time taken to consider the complaint.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman