Summary: We will not investigate this complaint relating to an alleged breach of the Code of Conduct by parish councillors. Whether or not the Council’s Monitoring Officer decides to investigate the matter, the complainant will not be caused any significant injustice. We will not investigate how the Council dealt with a complaint about the Monitoring Officer because we are not investigating the substantive issue.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to here as Mr B, is concerned about the actions of the Council in relation to his complaint about the actions of three parish councillors. He initially complained to us about how the Council has dealt with his complaint about the councillors. He has subsequently clarified he is also concerned about how the Council dealt with his complaint about its Monitoring Officer.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. We cannot investigate the actions of bodies such as parish councils or parish councillors. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34(1), as amended).
4. The Courts have said that we cannot investigate a complaint about any action by a council, concerning a matter which is itself out of our jurisdiction. (R (on the application of M) v Commissioner for Local Administration [2006] EHWCC 2847 (Admin)).
5. 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’.
6. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if, for example, we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault;
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained; or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

7. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached that is likely to have affected the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
8. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are not investigating the substantive issue.

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How I considered this complaint

9. I have considered what Mr B said in his complaint and other information he provided. I have also considered background information provided by the Council.

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What I found

10. Mr B complained to the Council about the conduct of three members of the parish council. We cannot, by law, consider the conduct of the parish councillors.
11. It is for the Council to decide whether to investigate a complaint about a parish councillor. We can only consider how the Council dealt with Mr B’s complaint and do not provide a right of appeal against its decision whether or not to investigate.
12. The Council is still obtaining information to enable it to decide whether to investigate the complaint about the parish councillors. However, I have decided Mr B will not have been caused a significant injustice whatever decision the Council makes. This is because the Council’s decision will not impact on Mr B directly to a degree that would warrant our involvement.
13. As we will not investigate the substantive issue, I have decided it would not be a good use of public resources to investigate how the Council has dealt with Mr B’s complaint about the Monitoring Officer.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate this complaint for the reasons given in paragraphs 12 and 13.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman