Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision not to investigate a complaint that a parish councillor breached the parish council’s code of conduct. We are unlikely to find fault in the Council’s actions.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about the Council’s decision not to investigate her complaint that a parish councillor breached the parish council’s code of conduct.
2. She wants the Council to review her complaint and ensure parish councils do not write their own standing orders and to monitor this.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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

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

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My assessment

6. Mrs X followed the parish council’s procedure for dealing with complaints that a parish councillor breached the code of conduct. After getting no response she discovered the parish council cannot investigate code of conduct complaints. She then complained to the Monitoring Officer at the Council.
7. The Council’s adopted procedure for dealing with complaints about councillors says:

“We can only deal with complaints about the behaviour of a councillor when they are acting in their official capacity. We cannot deal with complaints about behaviour that is not covered by the members' Code of Conduct for the relevant council. We will usually only be able to consider complaints made within 20 working days of the event giving rise to the complaint.”

8. The Council’s response shows it considered Mrs X’s complaint. It decided not to investigate the actions of the parish councillor which occurred more than twenty working days before Mrs X made her complaint. This is because this part of the complaint was made too late.
9. The Monitoring Officer considered the part of Mrs X’s complaint which was not late. They decided to try and resolve the complaint informally. The parish councillor who was the subject of the complaint was willing to pursue informal resolution, however Mrs X was not.
10. Therefore, the Council formally reviewed the information provided. The Monitoring Officer decided the actions which occurred within the relevant timeframe did not reach the threshold of a breach of the code of conduct. The Council explained this to Mrs X, and it confirmed it would not take any further action. It also explained to Mrs X that the parish council’s standing orders are wrong in that parish councils cannot deal with code of conduct complaints. They also explained parish councils are public bodies in their own right and are outside the Council’s jurisdiction.
11. The Monitoring Officer confirms they have written to the parish council about the apparent error in its standing orders so they may be corrected as quickly as possible. It also confirmed it will write to all other parish/town councils regarding code of conduct complaint arrangements to help avoid similar occurrences.
12. 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 councillor complained about. 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.
13. In this case, I am satisfied the Monitoring Officer dealt with the matter in line with the Council’s rules for code of conduct complaints before deciding not to take further action. The Monitoring Officer considered Mrs X’s concerns and the evidence available and explained why they did not consider the complaint should be investigated. As the Monitoring Officer properly considered Mrs X’s concerns, in line with the Council’s criteria for code of conduct complaints, it is unlikely I could find fault.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because we are unlikely to find fault in the way the Council considered her complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman