Wychavon District Council (19 017 670)
Category : Other Categories > Councillor conduct and standards
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 02 Mar 2020
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: The Ombudsman has no power to investigate a complaint about matters when the complainant was a councillor.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I refer to here as Mrs B, has complained about actions of the Council when she was an elected Member of the Council.
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 can only accept complaints from members of the public or their authorised representatives. This means we cannot accept complaints from councillors complaining about something relating to their position as a councillor. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26A, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I have considered what Mrs B said in her complaint and background information provided by the Council.
Final decision
- Mrs B is complaining about what happened when she was a councillor. We have no legal power to consider her complaint.
Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman