Summary: Mr X complained the Council has failed to properly investigate his concern that a parish councillor breached the code of conduct and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act. We do not intend to investigate this complaint. We are unlikely to find fault in the way the Council considered his complaint. And Mr X has already appealed to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal about a breach of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, does not believe the Council fully investigated his complaint that a parish councillor breached the code of conduct and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA).
2. He says the comments in the Council’s final decision are inaccurate and not supported by the detailed CCTV footage of the incident which he provided.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A (6), as amended)

4. We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered the information provided by Mr X and the Council. Mr X had the opportunity to comment on the draft version of this decision.

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What I found

Background

6. The Council has no responsibility for the actions of parish councils. It is however responsible for dealing with complaints that a parish councillor has breached the Council’s Code of Conduct (the Code).
7. Councils must have arrangements in place to investigate allegations that a councillor has failed to follow its code of conduct. Council Monitoring Officers have a duty to ensure the council maintains standards of conduct.
8. Complaints that a member has failed to follow the code of conduct must be dealt with using a council’s agreed procedure. This council requires the Monitoring Officer to assess complaints and decide whether they merit formal investigation.
9. In complaints about council standards matters, the Ombudsman can only look at if the Council has correctly followed its procedure to consider such complaints.

What happened
 

10. Mr X complained to the Council about a parish councillor. He said the Councillor had conducted a campaign of surveillance against him and his neighbours by attempting to covertly photograph his property.
11. According to the Council’s arrangements for code of conduct complaints, the Monitoring Officer’s Representative (MOR) considered the complaint. He asked for the Councillor’s response to the complaint.
12. In the decision notice on the complaint, the Council says the Councillor confirmed he is the lead Member of the parish council for highway matters, He confirmed that when he receives queries about highway obstructions, he visits the site and takes photos from the public highway. He passes the information to the highways team for action.
13. In this case the Councillor said he was told there were bollards, bushes, and mirrors on the highway next to Mr X’s home. He says he visited the site and took photos from the highway.
14. The MOR considered the complaint and the Councillor’s response. He also says Mr X provided CCTV footage, although there was a delay in receiving this in a viewable format.
15. Having considered the information and CCTV footage the MOR decided the Councillor was collecting information to pass to the Highway authority following the receipt of a report from another parish councillor. Therefore, it would not be in the public interest to consider the matter further and no further action would be taken.
16. I have reviewed the Council’s protocol for dealing with complaints about councillor conduct. From the information provided by Mr X and the Council, it is unlikely that we will find fault in the way the Council considered Mr X’s complaint.
17. Mr X is also concerned that by taking the photos, the Councillor had breached RIPA. Mr X confirmed he has already complained to the IPT about this. As Mr X has already appealed to a Tribunal, the Ombudsman cannot consider this part of the complaint.

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Final decision

18. I will not investigate this complaint. We are unlikely to find fault in the way the Council decided not to take further action on his complaint that a parish councillor breached the code of conduct.
19. We cannot consider the complaint that the Council failed to investigate his concerns about a breach of RIPA, as Mr X has already complained to the IPT.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman