The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision not to investigate a complaint that parish councillors breached the code of conduct. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. The complaint is late there is no evidence to suggest the complainants could not have approached us sooner.
The complaint
The complainants, I shall call Mr & Mrs X are represented by their solicitor Mr Y.
Mr Y complains the Council failed to investigate Mr & Mrs X’s complaint about the actions of parish councillors.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr Y, including the Council’s responses.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr Y’s complaint because it is late. Mr & Mrs X first complained to the Council in January 2021. The Council’s final response is dated February 2021. Mr Y did not complain to the Ombudsman until November 2022. This is more than 12 months after Mr & Mrs X became aware the Council would not investigate their complaint about the parish councillors. Mr & Mrs X chose to engage a solicitor and engage with the parish council direct. Following a failure to resolve their complaint they then decided to approach the Ombudsman. I will not exercise discretion on this late complaint as I have not seen any evidence to show Mr & Mrs X could not have complained to us much sooner.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman