The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of a complaint about councillor conduct as there is insufficient evidence of fault causing a significant injustice, to warrant our further involvement.
The complaint
Miss X complained to the Council about the actions of a local councillor. She says the Council’s response to her complaint contains errors.
Miss X says this has caused her to lose faith in local governance and she is no longer comfortable visiting her local community. She also says the councillor continues to be cruel to her.
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 Miss X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Miss X complained to the Council about the actions of a councillor.
Following the Council’s published procedure on dealing with complaints about the conduct of councillors, the Council’s Monitoring Officer assessed the complaint.
The Monitoring Officer decided: none of Miss X’s allegations reached the threshold by which they were likely to amount to a breach of the Code of Conduct; and it is not in the public interest to proceed to an investigation.
This is a decision the Council is entitled to make. Without evidence of fault in the decision-making process the Ombudsman cannot question the decision. I acknowledge Miss X says there are inaccuracies in the final decision statement. However, I have not seen evidence to suggest fault in the way the decision that the councillor’s actions were not a breach of the code, or that an investigation is not in the public interest, was made.
I understand Miss X has lost faith in local governance and that she finds it uncomfortable to the visit her local community. However, I do not consider this is a represents a level of personal injustice which warrants an Ombudsman investigation.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault in the way the Council considered her complaint. Nor do we consider she has suffered a personal injustice so significant as to justify an Ombudsman investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman