The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of a complaint against an elected councillor. This is because the complaint is late without good enough reason to investigate it now.
The complaint
Councillor X complains about the Council’s handling of a complaint made against him.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council/care provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Councillor X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Councillor X is an elected member of the Council (a councillor). He says the Council’s Monitoring Officer advised another councillor to consider making a complaint against him and then went on to deal with it herself. He says this was unfair and the Monitoring Officer should have declared an interest.
The Council decided to investigate the complaint against Councillor X on 3 October 2023. On that date the Council gave Councillor X information about the complaint, including the Monitoring Officer’s involvement. This means Councillor X knew of the matters he has now complained to us about from that date.
Councillor X complained to us on 1 November 2025. His complaint is therefore over two years late and the restriction in paragraph 3 applies.
I have considered whether we should use our discretion to consider the matter, but I have seen no good reasons to do so. Councillor X was aware of the events from 3 October 2023 and could have complained to us sooner.
Final decision
We will not investigate Councillor X’s complaint. This is because the complaint is late and I have seen no good reasons for the delay in bringing the matter to us.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman