Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate how the Council decided not to pursue a complaint about the conduct of a councillor. It is unlikely he would find evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to here as Mrs C, has complained on behalf of her mother, Mrs D She says the Council will not investigate her concerns about the actions of a councillor. Mrs C says the councillor has harassed and intimated Mrs D regarding the use a disabled parking bay outside her home.

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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 may decide not to start an investigation if, for example, we believe it is unlikely we would find fault. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), 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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have considered what Mrs C said in her complaint and background information provided by the Council, including its response to Mrs C’s concerns. Mrs C also commented on a draft before I made this decision.

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What I found

5. Mrs C complained to the Council’s Monitoring Officer that a councillor had acted in a way that breached the Councillors’ Code of Conduct. In summary, she says the councillor had harassed Mrs D regarding the use of a disabled parking bay in the road outside her home.
6. After discussion with the Independent Person, the Monitoring Officer decided the Code of Conduct did not apply to some actions and the councillor had not breached the Code in relation to other actions. That was a decision the Monitoring Officer was entitled to make.
7. The Monitoring Officer wrote to Mrs C to explain the decision. I have seen no evidence of fault in how the Monitoring Officer made this decision. In the absence of fault, we cannot question the merits of the Monitoring Officer’s decision.
8. I have decided we will not investigate this complaint because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman