Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of a code of conduct complaint against a councillor. There is insufficient evidence of fault in the way the Council considered the complaint.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council’s handling of his code of conduct complaint against a councillor. In particular, he says the Council failed to properly investigate or assess the evidence he submitted, and wrongly concluded the councillor was acting in a private capacity.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We can 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. So, we do not start an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

3. We can 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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered:
• information provided by Mr X.
• the Council’s ‘Procedure for dealing with complaints regarding city, parish, and town councillors and co-opted members’.
• the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. I appreciate Mr X is unhappy the Council decided to reject his code of conduct complaint on the grounds that it was not a standards matter.
6. But the Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes the Council followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong, regardless of whether the complainant disagrees with the decision the Council made.
7. Here, the Council considered the information Mr X submitted, followed its arrangements for considering code of conduct complaints, and explained the reason for its decision. As such, there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council to justify starting an Ombudsman investigation.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault in the way the Council considered his code of conduct complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman