Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a complaint about the actions of 3 councillors. We are unlikely to find fault in the way the Council dealt with the complaint.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I shall call Mr X, complains about the Council’s decision to not to take any action on his complaint about the behaviour of 3 local councillors.
2. He also complains the Council has threatened to invoke its Persistent and Vexatious Complaints Policy because he made the complaint.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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

4. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Councils have a duty to appoint a Monitoring Officer to ensure the lawfulness and fairness of authority decision making. The Monitoring Officer must ensure the authority, its officers, and members maintain the highest standards of conduct.
7. The Ombudsman does not provide an appeal against the Monitoring Officer’s decisions. We can only look at how they considered the complaint. We are also unable to investigate or comment on the actions of the councillors complained about. Where a decision is made according to the correct procedure, taking account of the relevant evidence, we will generally not criticise the decision, even if the complainant does not agree with it.
8. In this case, I am satisfied the Monitoring Officer dealt with the matter in line with the Council’s rules for code of conduct complaints before deciding not to take further action. After considering Mr X’s complaint the Monitoring Officer decided it did not concern a breach of the code of conduct. This was a decision the Monitoring Officer was entitled to make and the reasons for not taking further action were explained to Mr X.
9. As the Monitoring Officer properly considered Mr X’s concerns and dealt with his complaint in line with its policy, it is unlikely I could find fault by the Council.
10. The Council advised Mr X the tone and volume of his correspondence met several conditions of its Persistent and Vexatious Complaints policy in that:
• he tried to make parallel complaints about the same issue with different Members and departments
• He made excessive demands in staff and member time and resources
• He refused to accept certain issues were not within the Council’s responsibility; and
• he made inappropriate comments about individuals and services.
11. Because of his conduct the Council provided Mr X with a single point of contact for 12 months.
12. Again, as the Council considered the matter according to its Persistent and Vexatious Complaints policy, it is unlikely I could find fault.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we are unlikely to find fault in the Council’s actions.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman