Councillor conduct and standards

Bournemouth Borough Council (18 006 521)

Statement Upheld Councillor conduct and standards 16-May-2019

Summary: Mr C complained about the way the Council considered his complaint about a Councillor's conduct. The Ombudsman has found fault in the process which has caused Mr C uncertainty. The Council has agreed to repeat the process.

North Norfolk District Council (18 013 088)

Statement Not upheld Councillor conduct and standards 05-Mar-2019

Summary: Mr X complains the Council did not properly investigate his complaint about the conduct of an elected member. The information provided shows the Council followed an appropriate procedure which included the views of Mr X, the Councillor and an independent person. As there is no evidence of fault in the process we cannot criticise the decision reached.

New Forest District Council (18 013 492)

Statement Not upheld Councillor conduct and standards 28-Feb-2019

Summary: There was no fault in how the Council considered a complaint about an elected member of a parish council. For this reason, the Ombudsman has completed his investigation.

North Somerset Council (18 012 787)

Statement Not upheld Councillor conduct and standards 11-Feb-2019

Summary: Mr D complains about the Council's Standards Committee and the handling of his complaint about a Councillor. The Ombudsman has not found evidence of fault by the Council or a significant injustice to Mr D. He has completed the investigation and not upheld the complaint.

Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council (18 002 121)

Statement Not upheld Councillor conduct and standards 22-Jan-2019

Summary: Mr D complains that the Council's solicitor mishandled his complaint against two councillors by failing to investigate the complaint and requesting irrelevant information from him. He also complains that the Council failed to investigate his complaint about the solicitor's actions. The Ombudsman finds the solicitor properly investigated Mr D's complaint about the councillors and, having reviewed her decision, the Council was not at fault in failing to pursue the matter further.

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.