Summary: We will not investigate the Council’s decision not to investigate the actions of a councillor. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mrs Y complains the Council wrongly decided not to investigate a complaint she made about a councillor.
2. Mrs Y said the actions of the councillor led to the family being harassed.

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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 how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
4. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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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. Councillor P is both a county councillor and a parish councillor. Mrs Y sent a complaint to the Council after the councillor posted messages on social media in relation to one of her family members.
8. The Council responded to Mrs Y’s complaint and explained that Councillor P was acting in their role as parish councillor rather than county councillor when they made the social media post. The Council offered to forward Mrs Y’s complaint to the district council who was responsible for complaints against parish councillors.
9. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome of that decision. In this case, the Council considered the information available and decided Councillor P had been acting in their capacity as a parish councillor when they made their comments. There is no evidence of fault in the Council’s decision making process and so we will not comment on the decision made.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs Y’s complaint because there is no evidence of fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman