Torbay Council (24 017 720)
Category : Other Categories > Councillor conduct and standards
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 19 Mar 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about how the Council dealt with a complaint about the conduct of a Councillor. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault causing Mr X a significant injustice.
The complaint
- Mr X complains about how the Council dealt with a complaint about the conduct of a Councillor. He says that the Councillor has ignored the investigation by the Council and has not apologised to him.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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, or
- any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X complained to the Council that a Councillor had failed to respond to his correspondence. The Council investigated this matter and upheld the complaint. It has found the Councillor should apologise to Mr X and has responded to Mr X after he reported the Councillor had failed to do so.
- I acknowledge that Mr X remains unhappy with the conduct of the Councillor. However overall, I am satisfied the Council has responded appropriately to the complaint raised and therefore there is insufficient evidence of fault. Any remaining injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault causing a significant injustice.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman