Summary
We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council’s Monitoring Officer dealt with a complaint about the conduct of a councillor.
W e are unlikely to find fault in the way the Council considered the complaint.
The complaint
I shall call the complainant Miss X.
Miss X complains about the Council’s decision not to investigate her complaint that a councillor breached the code of conduct.
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 Miss X, including the Council’s response to her complaint.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code and the Council’s procedure for dealing with complaints about councillors.
My assessment
Local Authorities have a duty to have a Monitoring Officer to ensure the legality and fairness of authority decision making. The Monitoring Officer must ensure the Council, its officers, and elected members uphold 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 decision. We can only look at how the complaint was considered. We are also unable to investigate or comment on the actions of the councillor complained about.
In this case, the Monitoring Officer assessed the complaint. Following consultation with the Council’s Independent Person, she decided not to investigate the complaint as the councillor was not acting as an elected member when the alleged breach of the code took place.
I understand Miss X disagrees. But this was a decision the Monitoring Officer was entitled to make. As the Monitoring Officer dealt with Miss X’s complaint according to the procedure for dealing with code of conduct complaints, it is unlikely I could find fault.
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