Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of his complaint that a senior council officer had breached its Code of Conduct. This is because we have not seen evidence of fault in the way the Council considered the complaint.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will call Mr C, complains that the Council assessed his complaint that a senior council officer had breached its code of conduct. Mr C says the assessment of his complaint was superficial.

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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
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome, or

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr C and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code
5. Mr C now has an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I will consider their comments before making a final decision.

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My assessment

6. We cannot investigate the substantive matter which caused Mr C to complain. We can only consider how the Monitoring Officer considered his complaint.
7. Mr C raised concerns about a suspected conflict of interest between a senior council officer and a business involved in a licence application.
8. The Monitoring Officer assessed Mr C’s complaint but concluded there had not been a breach of the Officer’s Code of Conduct. During their assessment, the Monitoring Officer found that the officer had declared the conflict of interest and had been assured that the officer was not working on the licence application. The Monitoring Officer said Mr C had provided no evidence to support his claim that the officer had used their position for personal gain.
9. The Monitoring Officer’s assessment was proportionate to the concerns raised. They considered the available evidence and reached a conclusion based on their professional judgement. Further investigation by us has little prospect of finding fault or achieving a different outcome.
10. Further, Mr C has not demonstrated that he has been caused an injustice significant enough to justify our involvement.

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Final decision

11. I will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is unlikely we would find fault or add to the Council’s investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman