The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council carried out an investigation into the actions of a councillor. That is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.
The complaint
Mr X complained about the actions of a councillor who spoke in favour of a planning application at a planning committee meeting.
Mr X said that he was frustrated because he expected procedures to be strictly followed and they were not.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. 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) 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 the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X complained to the Council about the actions of a councillor who spoke in favour of a planning application at a planning committee meeting. Mr X said the councillor had a financial interest in the application, had a close relationship with someone connected to the application and as a result his actions brought the Council into disrepute.
The Council carried out a standards investigation. This type of investigation considers whether a councillor had breached the Council’s code of conduct for elected representatives of the Council. The code of conduct states, amongst other things, that councillors must not bring the council into disrepute and if they have a financial interest in a matter being considered in a committee meeting, they must leave the room and not take part in the discussion.
The Council concluded the councillor had not breached the code of conduct.
We will not investigate this complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation. The Council considered each complaint made by Mr X, reviewed the evidence he provided, spoke to the councillor, interviewed employees of the company involved in the planning application and watched a recording of the meeting. The Council found there had been no breach and explained the reasons why. Because there was no evidence of fault in the decision-making process, we will not question the decisions the Council reached.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman