Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about how the Council’s Monitoring Officer dealt with a complaint about the conduct of a local councillor. This is because the complainant is not complaining as a member of the public.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr X, has complained about how the Council’s Monitoring Officer dealt with a complaint about the conduct of a local councillor. Mr X also says the Council abused the general exception procedure and the Monitoring Officer failed to send him correspondence and treated him unfairly.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We can only accept complaints from members of the public or their authorised representatives. This means we cannot accept complaints from councillors complaining about something relating to their position as a councillor. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26A, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. The law says we can investigate complaints from members of the public who claim to have suffered injustice because of fault by a council. Local councillors complaining about issues relating to their role as a councillor are not members of the public. Therefore, we cannot investigate this complaint as Mr X is complaining in his capacity as a councillor.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman