Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to a member conduct complaint as it is unlikely we will find fault.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council failed to properly investigate his complaint that a councillor treated him disrespectfully at a public occasion and misused his personal information. Mr X says he was embarrassed by this and that he has lost trust in the Council.

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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))
3. 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 normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner if they have a complaint about data protection. However, we may decide to investigate if we think there are good reasons. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council. I considered the Council’s procedure for dealing with member conduct complaints.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. The Council’s decided not to take further action on Mr X’s complaint as in respect of the first part, in its view, the Council member was not acting in that capacity at the time, and so the code of conduct did not apply, and there was insufficient evidence of any data misuse.
8. I recognise that Mr X is unhappy with this, but I have considered how the Council dealt with the complaint, and there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify our further involvement. We cannot question the Council’s assessment of the complaint in the absence of fault.
9. Additionally, Mr X’s complaint about alleged data misuse is best dealt with by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) as it is the UK’s independent regulator for data protection matters.
10. For these reasons, we will not investigate.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is unlikely we will find fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman