Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the failure of the Council’s Monitoring Officer to investigate her complaint concerning a councillor’s failure to respond to a query she made. This is because there is no evidence to suggest the Council has been at fault in dealing with this matter.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Ms X, says the Council is at fault for failing to investigate her complaint about a councillor who failed to respond to a query she had made.

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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 reviewed the information provided by Ms X and the Council. I gave Ms X the opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

4. Ms X wrote to a councillor asking for information in response to a query she had made about income disregards and housing costs. Despite following up on her initial letter, Ms X did not receive a reply.
5. Ms X then complained to the Council’s Monitoring Officer (MO) about the failure of the councillor to reply to her. The MO, together with the Independent Person, considered Ms X’s complaint under the Council’s Councillors and Elected Mayor complaints system to see if a breach of the Code of Conduct for Councillors had occurred.
6. The MO wrote to Ms X to advise that under point 15 of the criteria adopted by the Council in considering such complaints, the matter about which Ms X complained was not a breach. The letter explained this was because a failure to respond to a constituent or other individual does not constitute a breach of the Code. The MO concluded that Ms X’s complaint should not be referred for investigation and that no further action would be taken.

Assessment

7. While I understand Ms X’s frustration at not receiving a reply from the councillor, it is a matter for individual councillors to decide whether or not to engage with members of the public.
8. There is no legislative or regulatory requirement for councillors to respond and there is no power held by councils to compel a response. As this is the case, I see no grounds on which to base an investigation by the Ombudsman.

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Final decision

9. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is no evidence to suggest the Council has been at fault in dealing with this matter.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman