Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint against the Council for failing to properly consider a complaint against a parish council. This is because he is unlikely to find fault.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Mr E, is making a complaint against the Council for allegedly failing to properly consider his complaint against an individual councillor of his parish council.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I have reviewed Mr E’s complaint to the Ombudsman and Council. I have also had regard to the response of the Council, applicable legislation and the remarks of Mr E who commented on a draft of my decision.

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What I found

Background

4. The Council has no responsibility for the actions of parish councils. It is however responsible for dealing with complaints that a parish councillor has breached the Council’s Code of Conduct (the Code).

What happened

5. In January 2020, Mr E made a complaint to a parish council. He then complained to the Council about how an individual councillor dealt with his concerns. As mentioned, Mr E believes that the individual councillor breached the Code.
6. The Council subsequently responded to Mr E’s complaint and took input from the Independent Person and Deputy Monitoring Officer. It informed the complaint had no merit since it was, in effect, a complaint against the parish council as opposed to an individual councillor which, therefore, did not concern the Code. The Council closed Mr E’s complaint against the parish council on this basis.

Assessment

7. In my view, I am unlikely to find fault in the way the Council acted or made its decision. This is because it took input from the Independent Person and Monitoring Officer and subsequently concluded, with due regard to the Code, that Mr E’s complaint did not constitute a breach. It took the view that his complaint was concerned with the parish council as a body, as opposed to an individual councillor. I see no evidence of fault and for this reason, I will not investigate.

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Final decision

8. I will not investigate this complaint because I am unlikely to find fault in the way the Council acted or reached its decision.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman