Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with the complainant’s concerns about the conduct of councillors or her complaint about the terms of an allotment agreement. This is because parts of the complaint are late. It is unlikely we would find fault in relation to the remaining issues complained about.

The complaint

1. Ms X has complained about how the Council’s Monitoring Officer dealt with her complaint about the conduct of two councillors. She has also raised concerns about the terms and requirements for an allotment agreement. Ms X says the matter has had a significant impact on her health.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. 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))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Ms X has raised many concerns about the terms and requirements for an allotment. However, I consider this part of the complaint late. A complaint is late if it has taken someone more than 12 months to complain to the Ombudsman. The issues Ms X has complained about occurred more than a year ago and I see no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate as Ms X could have complained sooner.
7. I have considered Ms X’s complaint about how the Council’s Monitoring Officer dealt with her complaint about the conduct of two councillors.
8. Local Authorities have a duty to designate a Monitoring Officer to ensure the lawfulness and fairness of authority decision making. The Monitoring Officer must ensure that the authority, its officers and members maintain the highest standards of conduct. Each council has different rules for dealing with complaints about code of conduct breaches.
9. The Ombudsman does not provide an appeal against the Monitoring Officer’s decisions. We are also unable to investigate or comment on the actions of the councillors complained about. Where a decision has been made in line with the correct procedure, taking account of the relevant evidence, the Ombudsman will generally not criticise the decision, even if the complainant does not agree with it.
10. In this case, I am satisfied the Monitoring Officer dealt with the matter in line with the Council’s rules for code of conduct complaints before deciding not to take further action. The Monitoring Officer considered Ms X’s concerns and explained why they did not consider the complaint should be investigated. The Monitoring Officer also consulted the Independent Person.
11. I understand Ms X disagrees with the Monitoring Officer’s decision. But the Monitoring Officer was entitled to use their professional judgement to decide the complaint should not be formally investigated. As the Monitoring Officer properly considered Ms X’s concerns, in line with the Council’s criteria for code of conduct complaints, it is unlikely I could find fault.
12. Ms X has also complained about how the Council responded to her complaints and says despite her requests the Council failed to respond to her complaints by formal letter. However, I do not consider the injustice suffered because of this matter significant enough to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because parts of the complaint are late. We are unlikely to find fault by the Council in relation to the remaining issues complained about.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman