Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that a councillor sent Mr X a disrespectful email. This is because there is insufficient injustice caused to Mr X to warrant our involvement and we cannot achieve the outcome he wants.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains a councillor sent him a disrespectful email which saddened him and broke his trust in local government. Mr X wants the councillor to be spoken to and to personally apologise to him.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. I recognise Mr X was upset by the content of the email sent to him but from our perspective, this does not represent a sufficient level of harm, to warrant our involvement. In addition, we have no remit to become involved in internal discipline matters at the Council and we cannot obtain a personal apology for Mr X.
6. For these reasons, we will not investigate.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he is caused insufficient injustice to warrant our involvement and we cannot obtain the outcome he seeks.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman