Summary: Ms D says the Council delayed investigating her complaint about a Councillor. She is also dissatisfied with the investigation. There were some delays by the Council, but these happened at the height of the covid-19 pandemic. The Ombudsman has completed the investigation and not upheld the complaint.

The complaint

1. The complainant (whom I refer to as Ms D) says the Council delayed dealing with her complaints about a Councillor in 2020 to 2021. She is also dissatisfied with the Council’s investigation and decision.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. 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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
3. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have considered the information provided by Ms D. In addition, I asked the Council questions and examined its response and supporting papers.
5. I shared my draft decision with both parties.

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What I found

What happened

6. On 28 April 2020 the Council received a complaint from Ms D (and a joint complainant) about the conduct of a Councillor. The Council’s Monitoring Officer acknowledged receipt on 7 May. Through May Ms D provided additional information with a further two complaints about the same Councillor. The Council decided to look at the three cases together given they concerned the same person. At the end of May and early June Ms D chased the Council for an update.
7. On 18 June the Monitoring Officer replied, apologising for delay. They were consulting the Independent Person about the case. Ms D sent further chaser emails in July and the Monitoring Officer responded on 17 July explaining they had decided the matters raised were not a breach of the Code of Conduct and so would not be investigated. Ms D requested a review on 19 July. A month later the Monitoring Officer said the Council would review and asked if there was any additional information. Ms D submitted further evidence on 1 and 17 September. The Monitoring Officer consulted the Chair of the Standards Committee and the Independent Person. They decided to investigate the case. The Council notified Ms D on 9 November it would appoint an Investigating Officer. It is unclear when the Investigating Officer started their consideration of the case.
8. The Investigating Officer issued a draft report on 26 March 2021. Ms D submitted additional comments which were considered by the Investigating Officer. A final report was issued to the Monitoring Officer on 14 May. The complaints were not upheld. The Monitoring Officer then consulted the Independent Person and accepted the findings. The Council sent a copy of the report to Ms D on 11 June.

What should have happened

9. Under Part 5.4G of the Newcastle Charter the Council will consider complaints about alleged breaches of the Code of Conduct for Councillors.
10. Complaints are looked at by a Monitoring Officer. The Monitoring Officer should decide if the complaint merits investigation, usually this is done within ten days of receipt.
11. The complainant can ask the Council to review a decision to not investigate. The Monitoring Officer will consult the Chair of the Standards Committee in reaching a decision.
12. If the Council decides to investigate it appoints an Investigating Officer who will consider the evidence and produce a draft report. They then look at any comments received from both parties before reaching a final decision. The final decision is sent to the Council for the Monitoring Officer and Independent Person to consider. If the Council agrees with the decision, it sends a copy of the final report to the complainant.

Was there fault by the Council

13. The Council accepts there were delays in: July 2020 when the Council should have asked Ms D if she had further evidence; time taken to consider the additional evidence in September and October and the time taken to notify Ms D about the initial decision. I have not found evidence of any additional delays. I appreciate Ms D feels the final report should have been issued sooner but there is no set timeframe for an investigation. The Council says the “matter took longer to resolve than would normally be the case” mainly due to the pandemic and significant changes to working arrangements. Whilst the Ombudsman does not condone delay, we also recognise the key delays in this case occurred during the height of the 2020 lockdown and the inevitable pressures it placed on the Council. In this context the delays that happened were understandable.
14. The Council adhered to its procedures when assessing the complaint and then investigating it. Ms D may disagree with the decision reached by the Council but that is not a matter for the Ombudsman. We will not question the merits of decisions made by the Council in the absence of procedural failings.

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Final decision

15. I have completed the investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman