Summary: Mr X complains about the Council’s response to a Member Code of Conduct complaint he made against a local councillor. We will not investigate the complaint because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Mr X, complains about the Council’s decision that his complaint made against a local councillor did not indicate any breach of the Member Code of Conduct and so it will be taking no further action.

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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, or
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. In considering the complaint I reviewed the information provided by Mr X, including the Council’s response to his complaint. I gave Mr X the opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

4. Mr X made a complaint to the Council against a local councillor. He raised concerns about a possible conflict of interest and a breach of the Member Code of Conduct in relation to the requirements of the Code for councillors to remain objective and exercise independent judgement.
5. Mr X made his complaint in connection with plans to develop an area of land in his locale for housing.
6. The Council responded to his complaint by repeating information previously given to him that if and when a planning application was submitted, the councillor would at that stage consider his position in relation to any vote or declaration of interest. It told Mr X that as it did not consider his complaint indicated any breach of the Code, no further action was required.
7. Dissatisfied with this response, Mr X complained to us. In the meantime, a planning application has been submitted. It is yet to be determined and is due to come before the Council’s Planning Committee in about 6 weeks’ time.

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Assessment

8. We do not offer a right of appeal against a council’s decision on member conduct complaints. While we can consider if there was fault in the way the council considered the complaint, we will only investigate if there is sufficient injustice to warrant our involvement or we consider it in the public interest to do so.
9. In this case, I do not consider an investigation would be likely to find evidence of fault and Mr X has not explained what his injustice is. The Council has explained to Mr X that the councillor will in due course consider whether he has any conflict of interest or whether pre-determination is an issue.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman