Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaints about various matters relating to this council and a town council. Most of the complaints are late and have already been considered by us. Others have not completed the Council’s complaint process. Some would be better dealt with by the Information Commissioner’s Office. And others relate to the actions of a town council over which we do not have jurisdiction.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains about the following:
1. events which took place between 2020 and 2024;
2. the actions of the Monitoring Officer in relation to the loss or deletion of documents which Ms X says demonstrates, amongst other things, a governance breakdown;
3. the handling of data requests;
4. the Council’s failure to consider her complaint against the Council’s Monitoring Officer which she says she made in March 2025;
5. the way the Council handled various of her complaints; and
6. matters which arose after she complained to us, including the decision by the town council to remove her from her position.
2. Ms X says that as a result she has been left feeling suicidal and these events have affected her complex PTSD.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the organisation knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to notify the organisation of the complaint and give it an opportunity to investigate and reply. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5), section 34(B)6)
4. 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)
5. We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner if they have a complaint about data protection. However, we may decide to investigate if we think there are good reasons. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
6. 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 injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
7. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate. We cannot investigate the actions taken by town councils.
8. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

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How I considered this complaint

9. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
10. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

a) Events which took place between 2020 and 2024

11. We will not investigate these complaints because we have considered them previously. For any which were not covered by our previous assessment, they are late and I can see no good reason why Ms X did not complain to us earlier.

b) The actions of the Monitoring Officer in relation to the loss or deletion of documents

12. Matters relating to data protection, retention or loss are better dealt with by the Information Commissioner’s Office. We will not consider them further.

c) The handling of data requests

13. Matters relating to the processing or sharing of information are better dealt with by the Information Commissioner’s Office. We will not consider them further.

d) Ms X’s complaint about the Monitoring Officer

14. Ms X says she made a complaint about the Monitoring Officer on 17 March 2025. She began to chase the Council for a response towards the end of the year. The Council asked her to provide specific details of her complaint. There is no record Ms X did so. If she wishes to pursue this complaint she should provide the information the Council requested. Once she has received a final response, she may return to us if she wishes. We will not consider this further.

e) The Council’s complaints handling

15. Ms X is unhappy about how then Council handled many of her complaints. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue. Where we could investigate the substantive matters, we still will not investigate the Council’s complaints handling. This is because it is unlikely there is enough outstanding significant injustice to warrant an investigation.

f) Matters which arose after Ms X complained to us

16. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the organisation knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. The complaints which arose after Ms X complained to us are premature and we will not consider them. In addition, any relating to the actions of the Town Council of which Ms X is a councillor are outside our jurisdiction as we cannot investigate the actions of town councils.

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Final decision

17. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaints. Many are late and have been considered already by is. Others are premature. Some would be better dealt with by the Information Commissioner’s Office. An others are outside our jurisdiction.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman