Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint that the Council delayed in responding to a complaint she made about a councillor. Any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. Furthermore, it is unlikely any investigation by the Ombudsman would come to a different conclusion.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council delayed in responding to a complaint she made about a councillor. She said the delays have caused her stress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
3. 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
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Following a complaint from Ms X about the actions of a councillor during a public meeting, the monitoring officer provided a response several months later. This explained the monitoring officer would not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the councillor made clear at the meeting they were acting in a personal capacity. Therefore, the councillor code of conduct did not apply and the monitoring officer could not consider whether a breach of the code had occurred.
7. We will not investigate this complaint. Ms X was unhappy the Council took longer than it should have to consider her complaint. However, the Council decided they were not ones which could be investigated. It is unlikely we would find fault in how the Council reached its decision or any investigation by the Ombudsman would come to a different conclusion. Therefore, any injustice experienced by Ms X from the delays is not significant enough to warrant us investigating.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because any injustice is not significant enough to warrant us investigating and it is unlikely any investigation by the Ombudsman would come to a different conclusion.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman