The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision not to pursue a Code of Conduct complaint made against a Councillor. This is because we are unlikely to find fault by the Council.
The complaint
Mr X complains about the Council’s decision not to forward the complaint he had made against a Councillor for investigation.
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)) We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Local Authorities have a duty to appoint a Monitoring Officer to ensure the lawfulness and fairness of authority decision making. The Monitoring Officer must ensure the authority, its officers, and members uphold the highest standards 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 parish council or the councillor complained about. When 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.
I will not investigate this complaint because it is unlikely I would find fault. I am satisfied in this case the Monitoring Officer has considered Mr X’s concerns in line with the Council’s criteria for Code of Conduct complaints and explained why they did not consider the complaint should be investigated. I appreciate the Monitoring Officer’s decision may be disappointing for Mr X, but they were entitled to use their professional judgement in this regard.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we are unlikely to find fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman