Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of a complaint about the actions of a parish councillor. This is because he is unlikely to find fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Ms X, has complained about the behaviour of a parish councillor. She says he has harassed her and affected her employment. Ms X also complains about how the Council has dealt with her concerns.

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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 investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. We cannot investigate the actions of parish councils. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34A, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have considered Ms X’s complaint and the Council’s responses. I invited Ms X to comment on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

5. Local Authorities have a duty to designate a Monitoring Officer to ensure the lawfulness and fairness of authority decision making. The Monitoring Officer must ensure that the authority, its officers and members maintain the highest standards of conduct.
6. Each council has different rules for dealing with complaints about code of conduct breaches. In this case, the Monitoring Officer will first assess the complaint to decide if the matter should be taken forward. The Monitoring Officer may decide not to take the complaint forward if the councillor was acting in their personal capacity at the time of the alleged incident.

What happened

7. Ms X complained to the Council about the actions of a local parish councillor. She says he has bullied and harassed her on social media. Ms X also complains the councillor spoke about her at a council meeting. Ms X says the councillor’s actions led to her suspension from work and have affected her health.

Assessment

8. I will not investigate how the Council dealt with Ms X’s complaint about a code of conduct breach. This is because I am unlikely to find fault by the Council.
9. The Ombudsman cannot investigate complaints about parish councils. The Council is also not responsible for the actions of a parish council. However, we can consider the Council’s administration of a code of conduct complaint. Therefore, I have considered Ms X’s complaint about how the Council dealt with her concerns about a parish councillor breaching the code of conduct.
10. I am satisfied the Monitoring Officer dealt with the matter in line with the Council’s rules for dealing with code of conduct complaints, before deciding not to take the complaint forward. The Monitoring Officer decided the councillor was not acting in their professional capacity at the time and said it was unlikely the incidents complained about would amount to a breach of the code of conduct.
11. I understand Ms X is unhappy with the Monitoring Officer’s response and says this has been based on opinion rather than fact. However, the Monitoring Officer was entitled to decide not to take the complaint further and the Ombudsman cannot question this decision unless it was tainted by fault. As the Monitoring Officer properly considered Ms X’s concerns and dealt with her complaint in line with its policy, it is unlikely I could find fault by the Council.

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Final decision

12. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is unlikely he would find fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman