Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council (25 000 677)
Category : Other Categories > Councillor conduct and standards
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 12 May 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a councillor conduct complaint as it is unlikely we will find fault by the Council.
The complaint
- Mr X complains a councillor made derogatory comments about him in a public arena. Mr X is unhappy about the Council’s response to his complaint about this. Mr X says he has been caused stress and an impact in his personal life.
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 (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
- We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The Council considered Mr X’s complaint but in its view the councillor, when making the comments, was not acting in that capacity but as a private individual. The Council's code of conduct therefore did not apply, and it could not take the complaint further.
- The Council is entitled to make the assessment that it did, and we could only question it if there was evidence of fault in the way it was made. We cannot investigate solely because Mr X disagrees with the Council’s decision and the information in his complaint does not provide sufficient evidence that the Council may have been at fault, to justify our further involvement. As such, we will not investigate.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is unlikely we will find fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman