Councillor conduct and standards

Recent statements in this category are shown below:

  • Teignbridge District Council (18 007 802)

    Statement Upheld Councillor conduct and standards 09-Jan-2019

    Summary: Mr X complains about the way the Council handled his code of conduct complaint against a councillor. Although the Council's decision to take no further action was not fault, it has been unable to justify calling his complaint vexatious. This is fault and the Ombudsman recommended the Council should apologise to Mr X and remove that statement from the decision notice to remedy the injustice caused to him. The Council has agreed to this remedy.

  • Wiltshire Council (18 007 479)

    Statement Upheld Councillor conduct and standards 17-Dec-2018

    Summary: Mr B complains the Council failed to properly investigate complaints he made about the actions of his parish councillors: the decision it reached did not accurately reflect his complaints. The Ombudsman finds the Council's investigation of the complaints was flawed. The Council has agreed to conduct a fresh investigation.

  • Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council (17 017 780)

    Statement Upheld Councillor conduct and standards 29-Nov-2018

    Summary: Mr D complains that the Council failed to investigate his complaint about breaches of the Members' Code of Conduct by a Councillor. The Ombudsman finds the Council is at fault in that it failed to respond to Mr D's complaint. It has agreed to do so within one month of this decision.

  • London Borough of Hounslow (18 001 933)

    Statement Upheld Councillor conduct and standards 26-Oct-2018

    Summary: Mrs X complained to the Council about the conduct of one of its Councillors in 2016. Mrs X complains the Council has failed to adequately investigate and respond to this complaint. The Council delayed in handling Mrs X's complaint, and failed to follow its procedures when it did consider the complaint. This caused Mrs X time and trouble pursuing the complaint. However, I do not consider the Council's response to the complaint would have been different had the fault not occurred. The Council has agreed to pay
    Mrs X £100 and complete its review of how it handles complaints about Councillors.

  • Stratford-on-Avon District Council (17 015 732)

    Statement Not upheld Councillor conduct and standards 21-Aug-2018

    Summary: Mr Y complains about the Council's decision not to refer his complaint about the alleged criminal actions of Councillor X to the police, or to re-open a previous investigation about the conduct of Councillor X. The Council considered Mr Y's complaint, but decided there was insufficient evidence of any crime or misconduct to warrant a referral or further investigation. There is no evidence of fault in the Council's consideration of Mr Y's complaints, and so there are no grounds on which to question the decision made.

  • London Borough of Hounslow (17 013 862)

    Statement Upheld Councillor conduct and standards 06-Aug-2018

    Summary: Mr X complained about the conduct of members of the Council's planning committee. The Council took far too long to respond to his complaint and only did so after the Ombudsman's involvement. It has agreed to apologise and pay Mr X £100 for his time and trouble. It will also review its procedures to ensure this does not reoccur. It will also review its code of conduct to clarify the involvement of the Independent Person in decisions about whether to investigate allegations. There was no fault in how the Council decided not to further investigate the member conduct issue.

  • Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council (17 002 250)

    Statement Upheld Councillor conduct and standards 30-Jul-2018

    Summary: The investigation process followed by the Independent Investigator of Mr X's complaint about the conduct of Councillor Y did not involve fault. But the Council delayed in completing its consideration of that Investigator's draft report. The report included contradictory conclusions but the Council did not identify this, and the Council failed to send the final version to Mr X. These faults led to avoidable use of Mr X's time, and caused unnecessary stress, trouble, confusion and uncertainty to him. These injustices require a remedy.

  • Brighton & Hove City Council (17 018 137)

    Statement Not upheld Councillor conduct and standards 28-Jun-2018

    Summary: There is no fault by the Council in relation to this complaint by Mr X that the Council failed to deal properly with his complaint about the conduct of one of its Council Members.

  • Bournemouth Borough Council (17 020 015)

    Statement Upheld Councillor conduct and standards 01-Jun-2018

    Summary: Mr C complained about the way the Council considered his complaint about a Councillor's conduct. I have found fault in the process the Council followed. The Council has agreed to carry out a new investigation into the complaint which will remedy Mr C's injustice.

  • Stroud District Council (17 012 070)

    Statement Not upheld Councillor conduct and standards 21-May-2018

    Summary: Mr C complains the Council refused to properly investigate his complaints about alleged breaches of a Parish Council's Code of Conduct by other Parish Councillors. The Ombudsman has found no evidence of fault by the Council.

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