Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint as we are unlikely to find fault in the way the Council dealt with their code of conduct complaint about parish councillors. Nor can we achieve the outcome the complainant is seeking.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I shall call Mrs X, complains about the Council’s decision not to investigate her complaint about the actions of parish councillors.
2. She says she was the victim of a fraudulent report and she wants a full independent investigation into the actions of the Parish Council.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. We cannot investigate the actions of parish councils or parish councillors.
5. 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)

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)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered the information provided by Mrs X including the Council’s response to their complaint. I also considered information provided by the Council and details of the procedure for dealing with code of conduct complaints available on the Council’s website.
7. Mrs X commented on the draft version of this decision.

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What I found

8. Mr X complained to the Council that 3 Parish Councillors had breached its code of conduct. She said in 2018, the Parish Councillors created a false document about building work she had carried out at her home. Mrs X says she was not aware of the report until 2020, when she requested copies of her personal data held by the Parish Council.
9. Mrs X complained to Wealden District Council (the Council) about the actions of 3 Parish Councillors. She also complained the Parish Council failed to follow its Standing Orders and failed to consider her complaint correctly.
10. The Council’s process for dealing with complaints that councillor have breached the Code of Conduct says:

“The Monitoring Officer will review every complaint received and will make a decision as to whether it merits formal investigation, other action or no further action. This decision will normally be made within 10 working days of receipt of a complaint. The Monitoring Officer will decide a complaint does not merit “investigation if:

•It is about someone who is no longer a Member of the Council; or

• There has been a delay of more than 6 months since the matter complained of occurred (unless the Monitoring Officer is of the view that exceptional circumstances exist to allow an extension of time); or

•The complaint appears to be minor, politically motivated, vexatious, malicious, or it is not otherwise appropriate to warrant further action.”

11. The Council considered the complaint and decided not to take any further action because:
• most of the actions complained about date back to 2018 and are outside the time limits of the complaints process; and
• the conduct of the meeting to consider the complaint was at the Clerk’s discretion.
12. Mrs X complained to the Ombudsman.

Assessment

13. The Monitoring Officer considered Mrs X’s complaint and consulted the Council’s 2 Independent Persons before deciding not to take the matter further.
14. In response to my enquiries the Council has confirmed It did not consider there was enough substantive evidence to support the allegation against the Parish Councillors to warrant considering the late complaints.
15. Mrs X stated she has evidence to show the Independent Person thought the complaint should be investigated but the Chief Executive ‘shut it down’.
16. I have considered the responses from the Independent Persons. One of whom saw no reason the Council could not consider issues from 2018, the other suggested the matters seemed ‘too long ago’.
17. The Council’s Chief Executive confirms he has been assisting the Monitoring Officer due to pressures placed on her by the COVID-19 pandemic and BREXIT. He says he is a former Monitoring Officer and therefore knows the role. However, in response to Mrs X’s suggestion that he shut the complaint down, he has confirmed that he was not involved in the decision not to take Mrs X complaint further.
18. I understand Mrs X is aggrieved at the actions of the Parish Council starting with concerns raised about alleged breaches of planning control at her home.
19. The Ombudsman does not offer a right of appeal against a council’s decision on parish councillor conduct complaints. We can consider if there was fault in the way the Council considered the complaint. But we do need to consider what we can achieve as we cannot investigate the actions of the Parish Council itself.
20. From the information I have seen it appears the Council followed the correct procedure. It consulted 2 Independent Persons before decision not to take the matter further. The two people had opposing views in the matter; however it is for the Council to decided what advice to follow.
21. There was a delay in its response to Mrs X. Its procedure states a response will normally be provided within 10 days of receiving the complaint. In this case the response was made after roughly 3 months.

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Final decision

22. I will not investigate this complaint. As described above, it appears the Council followed the correct procedure when it received Mrs X’s complaint. There is no definitive deadline for the Council to respond. Its procedures state a reply will normally be given within 10 days. It is unlikely that further investigation will find fault or lead to a different outcome.
23. Also, as we cannot investigate the actions of parish councils, we cannot achieve the outcome Mrs X is seeking.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman