Summary: Mrs X complains about the Council’s response to her complaint about a local councillor’s conduct which caused upset. The Ombudsman will not investigate as it is unlikely he will find fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about the Council’s response to her complaint about the conduct of a local councillor.

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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)
3. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have considered what Mrs X said in her complaint and the Council’s complaint response to Mrs X, which it sent to me. I have considered the comments Mrs X made in response to my draft decision on the complaint, which I sent to her.

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What I found

5. Mrs X complained to the Council about comments a local councillor made about her husband. Mrs X says the comments were untrue and caused distress to her and her husband.
6. The Council assessed Mrs X complaint. It decided the councillor’s actions could not amount to a breach of the code conduct and so the complaint was rejected.

Analysis

7. The Council’s procedure for assessing code of conduct complaints explains that it will not pursue complaints where the action complained about would not constitute a breach of the code of conduct. It rejected the complaint, as in its view, the councillor’s actions could not amount to a breach of the code.
8. We can only question the Council’s decision on the complaint if there is evidence of fault in the way it was reached. I have not seen such fault and we will not therefore investigate.

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Final decision

9. My decision is that the Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is unlikely he will find fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman