The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to investigate his complaint that a councillor breached the code of conduct.
The complaint
Mr X complains about the Councils’ decision not to investigate his complaint that a councillor breached the code of conduct.
He wants the Council to make the councillor to answer his emails.
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, or 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 Mr X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X complained a councillor breached the code of conduct by failing to respond to his emails.
The Deputy Monitoring Officer assessed Mr X’s complaint against its published procedure for code of conduct complaints. They noted that, in his complaint form, Mr X had referred to emails sent in 2022/2023. As this was not within six months of his complaint they decided not to investigate.
I understand Mr X disagrees with the Council’s decision. However, the Ombudsman does not provide an appeal against the Deputy Monitoring Officer’s decision. We cannot investigate or comment on the actions of the councillor complained about. The Ombudsman will not generally criticise decision making if it has taken account of relevant evidence and is in line with the correct procedure, even if the complainant does not agree with the decision made.
Also, Mr X says he wants the councillor to respond to his emails. The law says we cannot consider the actions of councillors when they are acting as ward members. Therefore, we cannot achieve the outcome Mr X is seeking.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we have not seen enough evidence of fault in the way the Council dealt with his complaint. And we cannot achieve the outcome Mr X is seeking.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman