Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Ms Q’s complaint about the Mayor of London’s alleged breach of the Code of Conduct. This is because she has not suffered a personal injustice because of the alleged breach. And Ms Q may go to court if she believes she has suffered discrimination because of the Mayor’s actions.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I have called Ms Q, complained that the Mayor of London breached the Code of Conduct with his support of the Black Lives Matter protests, among other things. She said the Mayor’s actions have had a ripple effect throughout the rest of the country. She also said the Mayor had breached the Equality Act 2010 and she had suffered discrimination as a result.

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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 the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the information Ms Q provided. I considered Ms Q’s response to a draft of this decision.

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What I found

Background

5. Section 113 of the Equality Act 2010 allows someone to take claims of discrimination to the County Court.

What happened

6. Ms Q complained about the actions of the Mayor of London. She said he had broken the Code of Conduct for various reasons, including his support for the Black Lives Matter protests. She said his support was a breach of the Equality Act 2010 and was discriminatory. She said the Mayor’s actions have had a ripple effect across the whole country.
7. In response to the draft of this decision, Ms Q further explained how she has been affected by the Mayor’s actions. She reiterated her belief that the Mayor has breached the Equality Act 2010, that she and others have been discriminated against as a result, and that his actions have had a ripple effect across the whole country. Among other things, Ms Q said his behaviour had affected her family, it was not safe to visit London, and she had been disadvantaged because of the Mayor’s persecution.

Analysis

8. Ms Q does not live in London or in any of the counties surrounding it, so is unlikely to be directly affected by the Mayor’s alleged breach of the Code of Conduct. I recognise Ms Q believes the Mayor’s actions affect the whole country. But it would be hard to conclude that his actions have impacted the whole country, or her specifically, in the way she suggests. So I do not believe Ms Q has suffered a personal injustice because of the alleged fault.
9. Ms Q believes the Mayor’s actions are a breach of the Equality Act 2010 and she has suffered discrimination as a result. If Ms Q believes she has been discriminated against she may pursue the matter in the County Court. I think it would be reasonable for her to do so.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate this complaint for the reasons given in the Analysis.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman