Summary: Mr X complains about the Council’s handling of his complaint about the conduct of a councillor, which Mr X says was damaging to the charity he is involved with. The Ombudsman will not investigate as it is unlikely the Council is at fault.

The complaint

1. Mr X is unhappy with the Council’s handling of his complaint that a councillor made threats to him and the charity he set up.

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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 the information provided by Mr X and the Council and I sent my draft findings to Mr X for his comments. Mr X provided no further comment.

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What I found

5. Mr X was involved in setting up a charity and says earlier this year, trustees had to remove a councillor form its board due to his conduct. Mr X says that following this, the councillor used his position to make threats, causing damage to Mr X and the charity.
6. Mr X complained to the Council about this. Mr X is unhappy that the Council has decided not to take the complaint further.
7. The Council considered Mr X’s complaint in line with its procedure for dealing with conduct complaints against councillors. It concluded the councillor was acting in a personal capacity and so the complaint was not one that could be progressed through its procedure.

Analysis

8. Mr X disagrees with the Council’s assessment, but this alone does not provide grounds for us to investigate. The Council considered Mr X’s complaint fully and in line with its procedures and made a decision it is entitled to. In the absence of fault in the way this decision was reached, we cannot question it. I have not seen evidence of fault in the Council’s consideration.

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Final decision

9. My decision is that the Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is unlikely the Council is at fault and so the Ombudsman cannot question the merits of its decision on Mr X’s complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman