The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council’s Monitoring Officer dealt with a complaint about the conduct of two town councillors. This is because we are unlikely to find fault. Nor can we achieve the outcome the complainant it is seeking.
The complaint
The complainant, who I shall refer to as Mr X, complains the Council failed to fully investigate his complaint about the conduct of two town councillors.
Mr X wants: Staff and other councillors to be interviewed Sanctions imposed against the two councillors he complained about A public apology; and The town councillors removed from positions where he believes they can continue to behave badly.
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 we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
I considered 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 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 has delegated responsibility for the initial assessment of complaints to the Governance Solicitor.
Following assessment, the Governance Solicitor decided local resolution was required. I understand Mr X disagrees with the way his complaint was assessed, but it is for the Governance Officer to decide who to interview and what evidence to gather.
As the Council dealt with Mr X’s concerns in line with the Council’s arrangements for dealing with for code of conduct complaints, it is unlikely I could find fault.
Also, as we do not offer a right of appeal against the Monitoring Officers decision, we cannot achieve the outcome Mr X is seeking.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we are unlikely to find fault in the Council’s actions . And we cannot achieve the outcome he is seeking.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman