The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council handled Mr X’s complaint about a parish councillor or the accuracy of the Parish Council’s minutes. It is unlikely we would find fault and further investigation would be unlikely to come to a different outcome.
The complaint
Mr X complained the standards investigation carried out by the Council was flawed. He also complained the minutes of the Parish Council meetings were inaccurate.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended) We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide: there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating; or we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation; or further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X complained to the Council that one of the parish councillors in the parish where he lives was parking for too long in an area where only short stay parking was allowed. He said the Parish Council sometimes put letters on the cars parked there asking them to move but they had never put one on the councillor’s vehicle. Mr X also said the councillor sometimes blocked one of the gates by the parking area and had building materials delivered there.
Mr X also complained some of the Parish Council’s minutes of its meetings were inaccurate.
The Council investigated Mr X’s complaints and decided that the Councillor Code of Conduct did not apply. The Code of Conduct provides guidance on how elected representatives should behave in public office. It cannot be used to investigate the actions of councillors taken in their private capacity. The Council decided that in this case the councillor had been acting in his private capacity.
The Council said it could not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Parish Council minutes as it did not have the jurisdiction to do so.
The Council considered Mr X’s complaints in line with its policy on standards complaints (these are complaints about the actions of councillors). It concluded the councillor had been acting in their private capacity when parking and therefore the code of conduct did not apply. There is no evidence of fault in how it made its decision and further investigation is unlikely to add to the Council’s investigation or reach a different conclusion.
Only the Parish Council can amend its minutes. The Council acted without fault when it advised Mr X it had no authority over this issue.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is unlikely we would find fault and further investigation would be unlikely to come to a different outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman