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 a councillor. This is because we are unlikely to find fault and the complainant has not suffered significant injustice.
The complaint
Ms X has complained about how the Council dealt with her complaint about the conduct of a councillor. Ms X does not agree with the Monitoring Officer’s decision not to investigate her complaint and says there have been long delays by the Council.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide: there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Ms X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
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. 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.
In this case, I am satisfied the Monitoring Officer properly considered Ms X’s concerns and the evidence available before deciding not to take further action as the code of conduct had not been breached.
I understand Ms X disagrees with the Monitoring Officer’s decision. But the Monitoring Officer was entitled to use their professional judgement to decide further action was not necessary. Ms X says the Monitoring Officer failed to consult the Independent Person. However, the Council’s arrangements for dealing with complaints about councillors say the Monitoring Officer is not required to consult the Independent Person on cases that are not being formally investigated.
Ms X has complained about how long it took the Monitoring Officer to deal with her complaint. However, I do not consider the injustice suffered because of any delays significant enough to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because we are unlikely to find fault and Ms X has not suffered any significant injustice as a result of any delays.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman