Somerset Council (25 015 840)
Category : Other Categories > Councillor conduct and standards
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 05 Nov 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate how the Council dealt with a member conduct complaint as the complaint is made on behalf of a parish council and so is not within our remit. The complaint about the Council’s response to an information request is best dealt with by the Information Commissioner’s Office.
The complaint
- Mrs X complained to the Council that a councillor was circulating misinformation about a parish council, of which Mrs X is a member. Mrs X is unhappy with the Council’s response. Mrs X also complains the Council failed to properly respond to an information request she made to it relating to this matter.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- We cannot investigate complaints from public bodies. (Local Government Act 1974, section 27(1)(a), as amended)
- We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner if they have a complaint about data protection/information rights. However, we may decide to investigate if we think there are good reasons. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mrs X complains about the impact on a parish council by the conduct of a councillor. We cannot investigate as we cannot investigate complaints from public bodies.
- The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the UK’s independent regulator in respect of access to information rights and is best placed to deal with Mrs X’s complaint about how the Council dealt with her request for information. We will not therefore investigate this aspect of the complaint.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the impact of councillor conduct on a parish council because we cannot investigate complaints from public bodies. Mrs X’s complaint about the Council response to her information request is best dealt with by the ICO.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman