Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council considered Mr X’s complaints about several councillors. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council failed to properly investigate his complaints about emails several councillors sent which discussed him in what he felt was a derogatory way.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. In 2024, Mr X became aware of emails which several councillors had sent that made reference to him.
7. Around 18 months later, he complained to the Council about this.
8. The Council accepted his complaint even though it was late. It considered what Mr X said and also read the emails. The Council concluded the incidents were not such that they triggered a full investigation under the Council’s Code of Conduct procedures. However, it said that despite this, it had spoken to the councillors because some of the wording had been inappropriate.
9. Mr X has been aware of the matters he complains about for over 12 months. However, because of the reasons he gave the Council for why his complaint was late, I too am persuaded to exercise discretion on this matter.
10. We will not investigate this complaint. The Council considered the emails Mr X was unhappy about, decided a Code of Conduct investigation was not triggered, explained this to Mr X and said that nevertheless it would remind the councillors of their duty to be respectful to people when acting in their capacity as a local councillor. These are the actions we would expect to see. Therefore, there is no evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is no evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman