The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about comments made by a Councillor about the Council’s new waste collection service. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council or that Mr B has suffered a significant personal injustice. We also cannot achieve the outcome Mr B wants.
The complaint
Mr B complains the Councillor has not complied with the code of conduct. Mr B says that comments made by a Councillor during an interview about the Council’s new waste collection service were threatening and disrespectful. Mr B would like the Councillor to step down from his role.
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; or we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants; or (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Ombudsman does not offer a right of appeal against a Council’s decision on complaints about member conduct. However, we can consider if there was fault in the way the Monitoring Officer or Standards Committee considered the complaint.
In this case, the monitoring officer considered information from Mr B and the Councillor. The monitoring officer has sought the views of an independent person in line with the Council’s procedures, and they have both listened to the interview before reaching the decision to take no further action. There is no evidence of fault in the way the decision was reached. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome.
Mr B says that under the new waste collection scheme, it is taking him and his wife a lot of time to sort and transfer the waste outside which he has described as irritating. Any injustice caused does not stem from the Councillor’s comments but from the Council’s decision to adopt a new system of waste collection, and it is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
Mr B would like the Councillor to step down from his role. Even if we investigated this is not an outcome we could achieve.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council or significant personal injustice. We also cannot achieve the outcome Mr B wants.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman