Summary: Mrs Y complains about the Council’s handling of her complaint against a Councillor whom she says breached the Council’s Code of Conduct. The Ombudsman will not 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 the Council failed to answer her questions and also overlooked the main aspect of her complaint.

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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 correspondence with the Council and its decision on her complaint.

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What I found

4. Mrs Y complained to the Council that a Councillor breached the Members Code of Conduct by visiting a prostitute during the Coronavirus lockdown period.
5. In response to the allegation the Council says the Councillor advised he had visited the address to provide a quotation for plumbing work and provided paperwork in support of this.
6. In accordance with normal procedures the Council’s Monitoring Officer considered Mrs Y’s complaint, the Councillor’s response and sought the views of the Independent Person.

7. The Monitoring Officer decided to reject the complaint. He decided that when the Councillor visited the address he was not acting in his capacity as an elected representative of the Council. As the Code of Conduct can only be engaged when a Member is acting in their capacity as a Councillor, the decision was made not to consider the complaint.

Assessment

8. 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.
9. Mrs Y disagrees with the Council’s decision not to investigate her complaint and suggests it has ignored the issue that the Councillor visited the address during the Government imposed lockdown period. However, having sought the opinion of the Independent Person, the Council decided the Councillor was not acting in capacity as a Councillor at the time of the visit and therefore the code of conduct is not engaged. This is a decision it is entitled to make. 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

10. 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