Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision not to investigate a complaint that a councillor had breached the Code of Conduct. We have not seen evidence of fault in the way the Council considered the complaint.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I shall refer to as Mr X, complains the Council refuses to investigate his complaint that a councillor breached the Code of Conduct.

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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 Mr X which includes:
• the complaint
• background information
• the Council’s response; and
• Mr X’s comments on the draft version of this decision

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What I found

Member Standards complaints

4. The Localism Act 2011 says councils must have a Code of Conduct for elected Councillors. They must also have a procedure in place to consider allegations that a Councillor has not complied with the Code. This must involve an Independent Person in decisions over whether to investigate complaints.
5. This Council’s arrangements for dealing with complaints of a breach of the code of conduct says:

“The Monitoring Officer will review every complaint received and, after consultation with the Independent Person, take a decision as to whether it merits formal investigation. This decision will normally be taken within 14 days of receipt of your complaint. Where the Monitoring Officer has taken a decision, he will inform you of his decision and the reasons for that decision.”

What happened

6. Mr X complained to the Council that a councillor had sent information to the Planning Inspector which was not true. He said the councillor was trying to discredit his integrity and that of third parties. He also said the councillor was attempting to influence the outcome of a planning appeal by lying to the Planning Inspector. Mr X believes this to be a breach of the code of conduct.
7. The Deputy Monitoring Officer wrote to Mr X. He confirmed he had considered the complaint with the Council’s Independent Person. The Deputy Monitoring Officer confirmed they had also considered all the correspondence Mr X provided and the background to the complaint, including the Councillor’s letter to the Planning Inspector.
8. The Deputy Monitoring Officer confirmed that having considered all the information, he, and the Independent Person had not found a breach of the code of conduct which merited further action.

Assessment

9. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body for member standards complaints. Our role is to consider the way the Council considered the complaint. In this case this means considering whether the Deputy Monitoring Officer followed the Council’s procedure for dealing with code of conduct complaints. We cannot consider the actions of the councillor if we do not find fault in the way the Council considered the complaint.
10. We can consider whether there were avoidable delays, whether the investigation failed to take account of relevant information or did not follow the Council’s procedures.
11. The Council dealt with Mr X’s complaint according to the procedure set out in its constitution. Having considered the information provided by Mr X it decided there was not enough to support the complaint. It decided not to start a formal investigation. It did so having consulted with the Independent Person.
12. Mr X disagrees with the Council’s decision. He believes the information he gave to the Deputy Monitoring Officer is proof the Councillor breached the code.
13. Without evidence of fault in how the Council reached its decision not to investigate, I cannot question that decision or investigate the councillor’s alleged actions.

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Final decision

14. I will not investigate this complaint. We have not seen any evidence of fault in the way the Council considered Mr X’s complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman