The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We cannot investigate how the Council dealt with a complaint made by a parish council as it is not within our legal remit.
The complaint
Ms X complained to the Council, as part of a parish council, about the conduct of a parish councillor, which Ms X says was impacting on the parish council’s ability to serve its parishioners. Ms X would like some action to be taken against the councillor.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We cannot investigate complaints from public bodies. (Local Government Act 1974, section 27(1)(a), as amended) We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies though we cannot investigate parish councils or its members. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34(1), as amended) 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 we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Ms X’s complaint is made on behalf of the parish council in that she says the conduct in question is hindering the parish council in fulfilling its role. As per paragraph two, we cannot investigate complaints made by public bodies.
Additionally, had this barrier not applied, we would not have investigated as we could not achieve the outcome Ms X seeks or any other meaningful outcome. We cannot ask the Council to take disciplinary action in respect of individuals, and we could not investigate the conduct itself, as parish councils are not bodies within our legal remit.
Final decision
We cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint because we cannot investigate complaints made by public bodies.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman