Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s failure to take appropriate action against two councillors whom he says made inappropriate comments about his wife on social media. The Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mr X, complains about the Council’s decision not to take actions against two councillors whom he feels breached the member’s Code of Conduct by posting comments on social media.

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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, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome.

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How I considered this complaint

3. I have considered all the information which Mr X submitted with his complaint. I have also considered the Council’s response and Mr X has commented on the draft decision.

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What I found

4. Mr X complained about the actions of two councillors whom he says made derogatory comments on social media concerning his wife. The Council investigated the complaints and the content of the posts. The Councillor who mentioned Mr X’s wife removed the post and apologised for his inconsideration. The Council decided that there was insufficient evidence of any serious content which would amount to a breach of the members’ code of Conduct.
5. The Council says the members were reminded not to make comments on social media which may bring the office of a councillor or the Council’s reputation into disrepute.
6. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. 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. There is no evidence that the Council failed to carry out a thorough investigation of the councillor’s actions.

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Final decision

7. The Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman