The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council’s Monitoring Officer dealt with a complaint about a town councillor. This is because there is insufficient evidence that fault affected the Monitoring Officer’s decision to take no further action.
The complaint
The complainant, who I will call Miss X complains about how the Council’s Monitoring Officer dealt with a complaint she made that a town councillor had failed to respond to her complaint about cars parking on land, blocking a right of way into her property.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’ which we refer to as ‘fault’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if, for example, we believe it is unlikely we would find fault. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended) We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached that is likely to have affected the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended) The actions of town councillors and town councils are not within our jurisdiction.
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Miss X says she complained to a town councillor about cars parking on land blocking a right of way to her property. She says she did not receive a response and therefore submitted a complaint about the councillor’s conduct, which was passed to the Council’s Monitoring Officer.
We do not provide an appeal against the Monitoring Officer’s decisions; we can only consider how the Monitoring Officer considered Miss X’s complaints. Further, it is not our role to investigate or comment on the actions of the town councillor or town council Miss X complained about.
I will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault in how the Council dealt with the matter. The Monitoring Officer considered the information Miss C provided about the actions of the town councillor and decided to take no further action. The Monitoring Officer explained to Miss X that they considered her complaint to be about the town council as a whole, and therefore the Code of Conduct does not apply.
The Monitoring Officer’s investigation was proportionate to the concerns raised. They considered the available evidence and reached a conclusion based on their professional judgement. They also explained their reasons to Miss X.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman