The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about councillor conduct. The Council followed its process and decided the complaint did not meet the threshold for further investigation. There is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s decision to justify an investigation.
The complaint
Mr X complains several councillors breached the Council’s code of conduct when they refused to support him to make a complaint. He says the Council’s decision not to investigate further caused him distress. He wants the Council to compensate him for the distress caused.
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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
In late 2023 Mr X asked several councillors to support him making a complaint to the Council. Councillor A responded to Mr X in December 2023 on behalf of the councillors. They said they could not support Mr X in making his complaint as it appeared to be a complaint the Council had already considered and responded to some years ago. They said the Council could advise how to make a complaint about any new matter.
Mr X complained about the conduct of the councillors to the Council. He said they had breached the Council’s code of conduct and not followed the Council’s own complaints process. The Monitoring Officer assessed Mr X’s complaint with an Independent Person. They decided they would not investigate further because: Mr X’s allegations did not meet the threshold where they were likely to amount to a breach of the Code of Conduct; and It was not in the public interest to proceed to an investigation.
We will not investigate this complaint. The Council’s procedure says when it receives a complaint about member conduct, it will review it in consultation with the independent person and decide whether it merits formal investigation. This will consider whether it is in the public interest to do so. In this case, the Council appears to have followed its process which is in line with national guidance. It has decided Mr X’s complaint does not meet the threshold for further investigation. This is a decision it is entitled to make.
We cannot question a decision because someone disagrees with it. There must be evidence of fault in how the Council made the decision. In this case, there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to justify an investigation. We cannot question a decision taken without fault.
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