The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council’s Monitoring Officer dealt with a code of conduct complaint. This is because we are unlikely to find fault.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr X, has complained about how the Council’s Monitoring Officer dealt with his complaint about the conduct of a local councillor. Mr X is unhappy with the Monitoring Officer’s decision not to investigate his concerns confidentially and says his identity was revealed without permission.
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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Local Authorities have a duty to designate a Monitoring Officer to ensure the lawfulness and fairness of authority decision making. The Monitoring Officer must ensure that the authority, its officers and members maintain the highest standards of conduct. Each council has different rules for dealing with complaints about code of conduct breaches.
The Ombudsman does not provide an appeal against the Monitoring Officer’s decisions. We are also unable to investigate or comment on the actions of the councillor complained about. We can consider the Council’s administration of a code of conduct complaint. However, where a decision has been made in line with the correct procedure, taking account of the relevant evidence, the Ombudsman will generally not criticise the decision, even if the complainant does not agree with it.
In this case, I am satisfied the Monitoring Officer dealt with the matter in line with the Council’s rules for code of conduct complaints before deciding not to take further action as Mr X wished to remain anonymous. The Council’s rules for code of conduct complaints say a complaint can only be made confidentially in certain circumstances. The Monitoring Officer considered the reasons why Mr X wished to remain anonymous before refusing his request. The Officer also consulted with the Independent Person.
Mr X says his details were shared with the councillor without his consent and his personal and professional safety are now at risk. However, the Council’s procedure for code of conduct complaints says the subject matter will be contacted about the complaint and the complainant must clearly request the wish to remain confidential when they make their complaint. Mr X did not ask to remain anonymous when he first made his complaint. Furthermore, the Monitoring Officer did not give the councillor details of the issues Mr X complained about.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we are unlikely to find fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman