East Sussex County Council (20 002 273)
Category : Environment and regulation > Trading standards
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 24 Nov 2020
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s investigation leading to criminal proceedings in a court of law. He will not investigate how the Council dealt with complaints about something outside his jurisdiction.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I refer to here as Mr B, has complained about the conduct of Trading Standards officers investigating possible offences. He says he felt bullied and they took no notice of his ill health which he says should have been evident to the officers. Mr B also says his complaint is about the Council’s conduct throughout the whole investigation and that a Council officer falsified evidence.
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 a complaint about the commencement or conduct of criminal proceedings any court of law. We have no discretion in this. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)
- The Courts have said that we cannot investigate a complaint about any action by a council concerning a matter which is itself out of our jurisdiction. (R (on the application of M) v Commissioner for Local Administration [2006] EHWCC 2847 (Admin))
- It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.
How I considered this complaint
- I have considered what Mr B said in his complaint and background information provided by the Council. Mr B commented on a draft before I made this decision.
What I found
- The matter at the heart of Mr B’s complaint is an investigation by the Council’s Trading Standards department into possible crimes. The eventual outcome was that, following court appearances, Mr B pleaded guilty to Trading Standards offences.
Final decision
- I have decided we will not investigate this complaint. It is about the criminal proceedings or actions directed at informing the Council’s decision to issue proceedings. We have no jurisdiction to consider these matters and will not investigate how the Council dealt with Mr B’s complaints about them.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman