Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the way the Council dealt with his code of conduct complaint about a councillor. This is because it is unlikely an investigation would identify fault.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council has refused to investigate his complaint about the conduct of a councillor. He says the councillor insulted him and did not do his job as the Chair of the Planning Committee properly.

Back to top

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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the information provided by Mr X and the Council. He commented on the draft version of this decision.

Back to top

What I found

5. Mr X complained to the Council’s Monitoring Officer about the behaviour of the Chair of the Planning Committee. He said the councillor:
• Had insulted him
• Failed to consider evidence properly
• Failed to pay sufficient attention to his concerns
• Refused to allow him to provide documents to committee members at the meeting
• Dismissed him with a hand gesture
6. A senior solicitor investigated Mr x’s complaint under the Council’s code of conduct for members. He found some parts of the complaint were outside the scope of the code, such as complaint about Council employees and the planning process. He referred these points to the planning department. He investigated those matters which did fall within the code of conduct and found no breach.
7. Mr X remained unhappy and complained to the Ombudsman. He says the councillor should be investigated.

Assessment

8. The Ombudsman does not offer a right of appeal against a council’s decision on complaints that a councillor has breached the code of conduct. But we can consider if there was fault in the way it considered the complaint.
9. A senior solicitor considered Mr X’s complaint. H sought comments from the councillor involved. And he reviewed the video recording of the planning meeting in question. He provided Mr X with a draft report and Mr X commented on it. The acting assistant director for governance reviewed the draft report and Mr X’s comments. He agreed there was no breach of the code. He explained his reasons to Mr X. These are the correct procedures and the Council is entitled to make this decision. Therefore, the Ombudsman does not intend to consider Mr X’s complaint because it is unlikely an investigation would find fault.

Back to top

Final decision

10. I will not investigate this complaint. This is because we are unlikely to find fault in the way the Council came to the decision that the councillor had not breached the code of conduct.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman