Summary: Mr X complains about the delay in the Council’s review of a decision on a complaint about a councillor. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint as we are unlikely to find fault in the Council’s actions and an investigation is unlikely to lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council delayed in reviewing the report on his complaint that a councillor breached the code of conduct.
2. He says the delay caused him stress and uncertainty. He wants a public apology.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants

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

How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the information provided by Mr X and discussed his complaint with him. He commented on the draft version of this decision.

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What I found

5. In May 2018 Mr X complained to the Council that one of its councillors had breached the code of conduct.
6. In June 2018 the Monitoring Officer wrote to Mr X, telling him she had decided the councillor had not breached the code.
7. Mr X complained about the Monitoring Officer’s decision. In July 2018 the Chief Executive told Mr X of his right to ask the Ombudsman to consider the matter. She also suggested that a solicitor in a different authority carry out a review of the Monitoring Officer’s decision. The different authority has shared service agreements with the Council and the Chief Executive of the Council also hold a post there.
8. Mr X agreed with the Chief Executive’s suggestion.
9. Having chased the Council for the result of the review, Mr X received a response in February 2019. He asked further questions but did not receive a final reply until June.
10. Mr X complained about the delay in receiving a final response on the review from the other authority.
11. The Council has no authority over employees of the other Council. Therefore, it told Mr X it had raised his complaint about the delay in the review with the other council informally.
12. The Ombudsman’s role in complaints such as this is restricted to considering how the Council responded to Mr X’s concerns that there had been a breach of the code of conduct. However, if the Council had properly considered the issue, we cannot question the merits of its final decision.
13. The Council’s arrangements for dealing with complaints about councillors says:

“The Monitoring Officer will review every complaint received and apply the assessment criteria at Appendix 1. He/she will, after consultation with the Independent Person, take a decision as to whether it merits further formal action.”

It also says:

“There is no right of appeal for complainants or for the Councillor against a decision of the Monitoring Officer or Sub-committee.”

14. There is no evidence to suggest the Monitoring Officer did not follow the correct procedure before deciding there was no breach of the code and advising Mr X.
15. The Council’s arrangements for code of conduct complaints specifically state there is no right of appeal against the Monitoring Officer’s decision.
16. Despite this, the Council arranged for another authority to review the decision. Mr X’s complaint is about the delay in completing this review which he says caused him stress and uncertainty. He wants an apology for this.
17. However, because there is no provision for such a review in the arrangements for dealing with complaints about councillors, I cannot find any fault in the time taken to complete this.

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Final decision

18. I will not investigate this complaint. We are unlikely to find fault in the time taken by the second authority to review the monitoring officer’s decision. There is no provision in the Council’s arrangements for considering a complaint about councillors for carrying out such a review. Therefore, there are no specified timescales for it to adhere to.

19. Also, the Ombudsman would not consider it a good use of our limited resources to begin an investigation purely to obtain an apology. There is no other outcome that he could reasonably seek.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman