Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a complaint about the conduct of a councillor. This is because the complainant has not suffered any significant personal injustice as a result of the alleged fault.

The complaint

1. Mr X has complained about how the Council has dealt with a complaint about the conduct of a councillor. Mr X says the decision reached by the Council’s Standards Committee Hearing Panel was unsound and based on incorrect and insufficient information.

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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:

• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

(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 Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

4. Mr X has raised many concerns about the Standards Committee Hearing Panel’s decision and the report produced by the Investigating Officer. Mr X says residents need to be confident the Council acts fairly and transparently and he is concerned about unprofessional conduct. However, Mr X has not suffered any significant personal injustice because of the issues he has complained about and was not one of the parties involved with the complaint about the conduct of the councillor.

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Final decision

5. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he has not suffered any significant personal injustice as a result of the alleged fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman