The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a complaint about the conduct of two councillors. This is because we are unlikely to find fault in how the Council investigated his complaint.
The complaint
Mr X complained about how the Council’s Monitoring Officer dealt with his complaint about the conduct of two Councillors. Mr X disagrees with the Monitoring Officer and said this caused him frustration.
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 Mr X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X complained that two councillors ignored his emails asking for support around a local concern. Mr X said this was not in line with their code of conduct. The Council’s Monitoring Officer looked at the evidence and decided the councillors had tried to help resolve Mr X’s issues and had not breached the councillor code of conduct.
Local Authorities have a duty to designate a Monitoring Officer to ensure the lawfulness and fairness of authority decision making. The Monitoring Officer must ensure that the authority, its officers and members maintain 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 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.
In this case, I am satisfied the Monitoring Officer dealt with the matter in line with the Council’s rules for code of conduct complaints before deciding not to take further action. The Monitoring Officer considered Mr X’s concerns and the evidence available and explained why they did not consider the complaint should be investigated. The Monitoring Officer also consulted the Independent Person. The Monitoring Officer was entitled to use their professional judgement to decide the complaint should not be formally investigated.
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