Summary: Mrs Y complains about the Council’s handling of her complaint against a councillor who she says breached the Members Code of Conduct. The Ombudsman does not intend to investigate the complaint because I have seen no evidence of fault in the way the Council dealt with the matter.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Mrs Y, complains about the Council’s decision not to investigate her complaint against a councillor. She says false statements made by the councillor on social media caused her severe distress and anxiety and damaged her reputation.

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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)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered the information provided by Mrs Y. This includes her complaint to the Council, a copy of the social media post and the Council’s assessment and decision on her complaint.
4. Mrs Y can comment on this draft decision.

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What I found

5. Mrs Y complained to the Council that a Councillor has breached the Members Code of Conduct by making potentially libellous allegations about her on social media.
6. In accordance with normal procedures the Council’s Deputy Monitoring Officer considered Mrs Y’s complaint and sought the views of the Independent Person. Having done so the Deputy Monitoring Officer decided to reject the complaint. He decided that when the Councillor posted on social media she was not acting in her capacity as an elected Member. As the Code of Conduct can only be engaged when a Member is acting as a Councillor, the decision was made not to consider the complaint.

Assessment

7. The Ombudsman does not offer a right of appeal against council decisions on member conduct. We can consider whether there was fault in the way a council considered the complaint. However, I have seen no evidence to suggest there has been fault by the Council in its handling of this complaint.
8. Mrs Y disagrees with the Council’s decision not to investigate her complaint. However, it is not our role to review the merits of decisions properly taken by councils no matter how strongly a complainant may disagree with them

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Final decision

9. I will not investigate this complaint. I have seen no evidence of fault in the way the Council dealt with the matter.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman