Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about councillor conduct as there is insufficient evidence of fault in how the Council dealt with this matter to warrant our further involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained to the Council that a councillor was harassing and intimidating him. Mr X says this caused him anxiety and impacted on his health and wants the councillor to be removed from their post.

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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. 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 there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating or we cannot achieve the outcome the complainant seeks (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
4. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. The Council has considered several complaints from Mr X about the conduct of a councillor but has explained it is unable to take them further, as, in its view, the councillor was not acting in that capacity when engaging in the conduct Mr X complains about. The Council can only act when there is a potential breach of its Code of Conduct by a councillor acting in that position.
8. Unless there is evidence of fault in the way the Council reached this decision, we cannot be critical of it. I have not seen an indication there might be such fault, and Mr X has not provided any evidence that might point to it. While I recognise Mr X is unhappy with the outcome of his complaint, this alone does not provide grounds for us to investigate.
9. We also cannot achieve the outcome that Mr X seeks as we are not empowered to impose any sanctions on councillors.
10. For these reasons, we will not investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and we cannot achieve the outcome Mr X wants.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman