Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the District Council’s refusal to investigate a complaint about the actions of two town councillors. We cannot investigate the actions of town councillors. Mr Q has not suffered significant personal injustice. And, in any event, this is a matter for the Police.

The complaint

1. Mrs Z is complaining on behalf of Mr Q about the actions of South Somerset District Council’s Monitoring Officer. She said the Monitoring Officer refused to investigate Mr Q’s complaint that two town councillors failed to disclose a pecuniary interest in the Town Council’s own planning application. Mrs Z believes the Town Councillors breached the Code of Conduct and the Monitoring Officer should have investigated this.

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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:

• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

3. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. We cannot investigate the actions of bodies such as town and parish councils or their councillors. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34A, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the information Mrs Z provided. I considered information available on the District Council’s website. And I have considered Mrs Z’s response to a draft of this decision.

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What I found

Background

5. Section 34 of the Localism Act 2011 makes it a criminal offence to fail, without reasonable excuse, to declare a pecuniary interest.
6. Complaints about the conduct of town and parish councillors, such as an alleged breach of the Code of Conduct, are handled by a principal authority. In this case, the Principal Authority was the District Council.
7. We may investigate the way the Principal Authority has investigated a complaint about town or parish councillors. But we cannot investigate complaints about a failure to disclose a pecuniary interest. This would be a matter for the Police.

Key facts

8. A town council applied to the District Council for planning permission. Mrs Z said two of the Town Councillors involved in the planning application failed to disclose a pecuniary interest in it. Mr Q complained to the District Council about this, saying the Councillors had breached the Code of Conduct. Mrs Z said the District Council failed to investigate Mr Q’s concerns, and it does not have a protocol with the Police for dealing with such complaints.
9. Mr Q does not live next to the proposed development site. But Mrs Z said he lives about half a mile from the site and passes it every day. She also said that the area is rural and so the noise and activities of the proposed development would blight the peace and tranquillity of the area.
10. Mrs Z said she had contacted the Police. But she said they have limited resources to investigate if we do not decide there has been a breach of the councillors’ Code of Conduct.
11. According to the District Council’s website, it has not yet decided the Town Council’s planning application.

Analysis

12. We will not investigate this complaint.
13. Mr Q does not live next to the proposed development site. However, I recognise he passes it every day and, if the application is approved, it may have an impact the rural location. However, the District Council has yet to approve or refuse the Town Council’s planning application. Unless and until the District Council approves the application Mr Q will not suffer a significant personal injustice because of the District Council’s alleged refusal to consider his complaint about the Town Councillors.
14. Mr Q alleged the Town Councillors failed to declare a pecuniary interest in the planning application. Mrs Z said the Council failed to investigate whether the Councillors breached the Code of Conduct. We have no power to investigate the actions of the Town Councillors. So we cannot investigate their actions or say they breached the councillors’ Code of Conduct.
15. In any event, a failure to disclose a pecuniary interest – which Mr Q and Mrs Z believe is a breach of the Code of Conduct - is a criminal offence. So the Police are better placed to consider Mr Q’s complaint about the actions of the Town Councillors. I recognise Mrs Z complained to the Police and they may have decided not to investigate. But that does not mean we can investigate if the Police decide not to.

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Final decision

16. We will not investigate this complaint for the reasons given in the Analysis.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman