Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a complaint about the conduct of councillors. We are unlikely to find fault in the way the Council considered the complaint.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council’s decision not to investigate his complaint that councillors breached the code of conduct. He says the councillors concerned failed to declare an interest in a local society before taking part in a vote which benefited that society.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate 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 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

3. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Local Authorities have a duty to have a Monitoring Officer to ensure the legality and fairness of authority decision making. The Monitoring Officer must ensure the Council, its officers, and elected members uphold the highest standards of conduct. Each council has different rules for dealing with complaints about code of conduct breaches.
6. The Ombudsman does not provide an appeal against the Monitoring Officer’s decision. We can only look at how the complaint was considered. We are unable to investigate or comment on the actions of the councillors complained about.
7. In this case, the Monitoring Officer assessed the complaint. Following consultation with the Council’s Independent Person, they decided not to investigate the complaint as the meeting and the vote occurred more that six months ago. They considered whether there were any exceptional circumstances to investigate the late complaint. However, they note the councillors declared their interests and did not unduly influence the vote.
8. I understand Mr X disagrees. But this was a decision the Monitoring Officer was entitled to make. As the they dealt with Mr X’s complaint according to the Council’s procedure for dealing with complaints about the conduct of councillors, it is unlikely I could find fault.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we are unlikely to find fault in the way the Council considered his allegation that councillors had breached the code of conduct.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman