Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr B’s complaint about the actions of a parish council and a parish councillor or the about the Council’s failure to involve itself in his concerns about them. This is because parish councils and parish councillors fall outside our jurisdiction, there is no evidence of injustice caused to Mr B as a result of fault by the Council and we cannot achieve the outcome Mr B seeks for his complaint.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Mr B, complains about the actions of a parish council and a parish councillor. He is unhappy the Council has decided to take no action following his complaint about them. He seeks the removal of the parish councillor from his post as the outcome to his complaint.

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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
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, 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, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. In considering the complaint I spoke to Mr B and reviewed the information he provided.

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What I found

4. Mr B complained to the Council about the actions of a parish council and a particular parish councillor who he believes acted against him.
5. Mr B made a complaint to the Council about the conduct of the parish councillor but the Council’s Monitoring Officer decided that there had been no breach of the Code of Conduct by the councillor.

Assessment

6. Parish councils are not bodies which fall within our jurisdiction and so we have no legal remit to investigate the conduct of parish councillors.
7. While we do have jurisdiction to investigate how the Council dealt with Mr B’s complaint about the parish councillor, there are insufficient grounds which warrant doing so in this case. There is no evidence fault by the Council caused Mr B injustice and we cannot obtain the outcome Mr B seeks.

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Final decision

8. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr B’s complaint. This is because parish councils and parish councillors fall outside our jurisdiction, there is no evidence of injustice caused to Mr B as a result of fault by the Council and we cannot achieve the outcome Mr B seeks.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman