The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council considered a councillor conduct complaint. There is not enough evidence of fault in how the Council made its decision.
The complaint
Mrs X complains about the Council’s decision not to investigate her complaint that a town councillor breached the code of conduct .
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 Mrs X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council's Monitoring Officer is responsible for considering allegations that an elected member (included town or parish councillors) has breached the members' code of conduct. Each council has different rules for dealing with complaints about code of conduct breaches.
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. Where a decision has been made in line with the correct procedure, taking account of the relevant evidence, the Ombudsman will generally not criticise the decision, even if the complainant does not agree with it.
The Monitoring Officer said they would not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because during the incidents she complained about, the subject town councillor was not acting in her capacity as a town councillor. Therefore, the code of conduct was not engaged. It confirmed just because a person is known to be an elected councillor does not mean the code of conduct is automatically engaged. For the code to apply, councillors must be acting in their capacity as a councillor or give the impression they are acting as representative of the council.
The Monitoring Officer has followed the Council’s procedure for considering code of conduct complaints. They have provided a clear reason for their decision. They have discretion to decide whether to investigate.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because There is not enough evidence of fault in how the Council dealt with the complaint to justify our involvement.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman