Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision on a code of conduct complaint about a councillor. There is insufficient evidence of fault in the way it reached its decision.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council’s decision on a code of conduct complaint about the behaviour of a councillor at a Council meeting.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We can 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. So, we do not start 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. In that regard, we can 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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered:
• information provided by Mr X, which included the Council’s decision on the code of conduct complaint.
• information on the Council’s website about its code of conduct complaint process.
• the video recording and minutes of the Council meeting.
• the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. I appreciate Mr X is very unhappy about the Council’s decision on his code of conduct complaint about the councillor.
6. But the Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong, regardless of whether the complainant disagrees with the decision the Council made.
7. The Council followed its code of conduct complaint process in reaching its decision on Mr X’s complaint. In particular, there was no requirement to consult other councillors at the meeting, and the Monitoring Officer was entitled to use her professional judgement, having consulted with the Independent Person, that the councillor’s actions did not amount to a breach of the code.
8. As such, I consider there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify starting an investigation.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault in the way the Council reached its decision on the code of conduct complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman