Summary: The Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint the Council failed to properly consider a Code of Conduct complaint against a councillor. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault in the way the Council decided not to investigate the matter further.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council failed to properly consider her complaint a councillor breached the Councillor’s Code of Conduct when acting as a parish councillor.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we would find fault. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A (6), as amended)
3. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
4. The Ombudsman does not offer a right of appeal against a council’s decision on complaints a councillor has breached the Code of Conduct. We can only consider if there was fault in the way the monitoring officer considered the complaint.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered the information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
6. Mrs X had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

7. Mrs X complained to the District Council about a parish councillor’s (pc) actions in parish council meetings and because he had a police record. She wanted to know why he was still able to be a pc.
8. The Monitoring Officer(MO) explained the pc’s police record did not meet the disqualification criteria in the Local Government Act 1972. She said the District Council could not tell the parish council how to manage its affairs.
9. The MO said if Mrs X felt the pc had breached the Code of Conduct while acting as a councillor she could complain to her.
10. Mrs X complained to the MO. She said the pc, by his actions, had continually and repeatedly breached the Code of Conduct. She said he had not been honest, shown integrity or been accountable and answerable to those he represented.
11. The MO considered Mrs X’s complaint. She consulted with the Independent Person (IP). She explained the IP considered the pc’s involvement in court action and decided this did not breach the Parish Council’s Code of Conduct. The IP decided the pc’s sentence and conviction was as an individual, not as a pc.
12. The MO considered more information Mrs X’s provided about the pc's Facebook page which she complained showed disrespect to his fellow councillors.
13. The MO reviewed the posts and other, more recent, posts on his councillor Facebook page. She said some of them were political and appeared to be when he was acting in his official capacity as a councillor.
14. The MO decided the posts she had viewed did not “go beyond the ordinary political opinions which would be expressed by councillors in a more formal setting” such as a Council meeting. She said she did not consider the posts amounted to a breach of the Member Code of Conduct. The MO said she had already spoken to the councillor about his use of Social Media. She said she would review the position if anyone raised further posts with her.
15. The MO told Mrs X she was taking no further action taken on the complaint and was closing it.

Analysis

16. From the evidence I have seen it is unlikely we would find fault with the Council. This is because the MO followed the correct procedures when she considered Mrs X’s complaint. The procedure allows the MO to take no further action on a complaint.
17. I appreciate Mrs X is unhappy with the MO’s decision not to further investigate her complaint. The Ombudsman, however, cannot question that decision, unless there is evidence of fault in the way the MO reached it.
18. The MO applied the Council’s ‘Councillor Complaints Procedure’ for dealing with complaints about breaches of the Members Code of Conduct. The MO explained the reasoning behind the decision to take no further action. This was a decision she could take. There is no fault here.

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Final decision

19. The Ombudsman should not investigate Mrs X’s complaint. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council in the way it decided the councillor had not breached the Code of Conduct.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman