Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate how the Council decided not to pursue a complaint about the conduct of a councillor. It is unlikely he would find evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to here as Mr D, has complained the Council will not investigate his concerns about the actions of a councillor. He has complained about how the Council dealt with his subsequent complaint about the Council’s decision.

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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 may decide not to start an investigation if, for example, we believe it is unlikely we would find fault. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), 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)
4. It is not a good use of public resources to consider how a council has considered a complaint when we will not investigate the substantive issue.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I have considered what Mr D said in his complaint including the Council’s response to his concerns. Mr D commented on a draft before I made this decision.

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What I found

6. Mr D complained to the Council’s Monitoring Officer that a councillor had acted in a way that breached the Councillors’ Code of Conduct.
7. The Council considered whether, if proven, the complaint would be a breach of the Code that would justify further investigation.
8. After discussion with the Independent Person, the Monitoring Officer decided the councillor had not breached the Code of Conduct and so the Council would not investigate further.
9. The Council’s Chief Executive, acting as Monitoring Officer, wrote to Mr D to explain the decision. I have seen no evidence of fault in how the Council made this decision and we do not provide a right of appeal against it.

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Final decision

10. I have decided we will not investigate this complaint because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council. In view of this, we will not investigate how the Council dealt with his complaint about its decision.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman