The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to a councillor conduct complaint as the injustice claimed by the complainant does not justify our further involvement, in the public interest, and we cannot achieve the outcome the complainant seeks.
The complaint
Mrs X complains the Council has not taken her complaint about the conduct of a councillor seriously. Mrs X complained that the councillor had liked a post on social media which Mrs X felt was insulting about her. Mrs X says she was shocked and embarrassed by this. Mrs X wants the councillor to make a personal apology to her and to remove the ‘emoji’ they added to the post.
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 any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)) When we find fault, we can recommend remedies for significant personal injustice, or to prevent future injustice, caused by that fault. We look at organisational fault, not individual professional competence. Decisions about individual’s fitness to practise or work are for the organisations concerned, and for professional regulators, not the Ombudsman. (Local Government Act 1974, s26(1) and s26A(1) as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
While I recognise Mrs X feels strongly about this matter, we will not investigate as from our perspective, the impact on her does not equate to significant harm or loss. We have limited resources and must use public money carefully. As such, I do not consider it would be in the public interest for us to investigate this complaint.
In addition, we cannot achieve the outcome Mrs X seeks as we are unable to invoke sanctions on individuals at the Council.
For these reasons, we will not investigate.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it would not be in the public interest to do so, and we cannot achieve the outcome she seeks.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman