Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the way the Council handled a standards complaint against him. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council failed to properly deal with a complaint made against him by councillors and Council officers.
2. Mr X says this has caused him distress and inconvenience and his reputation has been tarnished.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
4. 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 could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, 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

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

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My assessment

7. A Councillor and several Council officers made complaints that Mr X, who is also a councillor, had breached the code of conduct, which all officers and councillors must abide by.
8. The acting monitoring officer investigated and wrote a report. Following a panel meeting to consider the report, some of the complaints were upheld. Mr X was asked to apologise and carry out training.
9. Councils have a duty to designate a monitoring officer to ensure the lawfulness and fairness of decision-making. The monitoring officer must ensure that the council, its officers and members maintain the highest standards of conduct. Each council has different rules for dealing with complaints about code of conduct breaches.
10. The Ombudsman does not provide an appeal against the monitoring officer’s decisions. We are also unable to investigate or comment on the actions of the councillors complained about. However, where a decision has been made in line with the correct procedure, taking account of the relevant evidence, the Ombudsman will generally not criticise the decision, even if the complainant does not agree with it.
11. In this case, the acting monitoring officer dealt with the matter in line with the Council’s rules for code of conduct complaints before deciding to not take further action. The monitoring officer also consulted the Independent Person. Therefore, there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman