Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council (21 000 333)
Category : Other Categories > Councillor conduct and standards
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 28 May 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: Mr X complains about the Council’s response to his complaint about the conduct of a councillor. We will not investigate as there is no indication of fault by the Council.
The complaint
- Mr X complains about the Council’s response to his complaint about the conduct of a councillor. Mr X says he has been caused distress by this.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I have considered what Mr X said in his complaint and I have sent him my draft decision on it for his comments.
What I found
- Mr X complained to the Council about comments a councillor made on a political party’s social media page. Mr X said the comments could be construed as threats of violence and constituted political sectarianism. Mr X also considered the comments carried overtones of anti-semitism.
- The Council considered Mr X’s complaint having regard to its procedure for dealing with conduct complaints. The Council decided not to take the complaint further as in its view, the complaint was politically motivated.
Analysis
- The Council has a procedure for dealing with complaints about the conduct of councillors. This states that a complaint can be rejected if it appears to be politically motivated. The Council considered Mr X’s complaint was such a complaint and so rejected it. The Council is entitled to decide this and we cannot be critical of its decision unless there is evidence of fault in the way the decision was reached. I have not seen such evidence and there are no grounds to investigate therefore.
Final decision
- We will not investigate this complaint. This is because we cannot question the Council’s decision as there is insufficient evidence of fault in how it was made.
Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman