Surrey Police & Crime Commissioner (20 006 029)
Category : Other Categories > Councillor conduct and standards
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 04 Dec 2020
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: The Ombudsman cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint against the Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner. This is because Mr X’s complaint does not concern an administrative function and so it falls outside our jurisdiction and cannot be investigated.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I refer to as Mr X, says the Police and Crime Commissioner has failed to report themselves for misconduct in public office/ assisting an offender. He says this has prevented serious wrongdoing by an offender coming to light and the events surrounding these matters has had a disastrous impact on his life.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- We cannot investigate a complaint where the body complained about is not responsible for the issue being raised. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(1), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- In considering the complaint I reviewed the information provided by Mr X.
What I found
- In September 2020 Mr X made a complaint against the Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner and this was forwarded to the Surrey Police and Crime Panel for consideration. The Police and Crime Panel considered his complaint but decided to take no further action.
- As part of his dissatisfaction with this decision, Mr X complained to the Ombudsman that the Police and Crime Commissioner had failed to report themselves for misconduct in public office/ assisting an offender.
Assessment
- The Ombudsman is expressly prohibited from investigating complaints about action taken by police and crime commissioners in connection with the investigation or prevention of crime. Instead, a complainant wishing to complain about such matters should contact the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
- As only the administrative actions of police and crime commissioners can be the subject of an investigation by the Ombudsman, and Mr X’s complaint is not about an administrative function, the complaint falls outside our jurisdiction and cannot be investigated. We have no discretion here.
Final decision
- The Ombudsman cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint against the Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner. This is because Mr X’s complaint does not concern an administrative function and so it falls outside our jurisdiction and cannot be investigated.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman