Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s decision not to investigate his complaint that a councillor breached the code of conduct. We have not seen enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council failed to investigate and respond to his complaint that a councillor breached the code of conduct.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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))
3. We 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 and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Councils 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 council, its officers and members maintain the highest standards of conduct. Each council has different rules for dealing with complaints about code of conduct breaches.
7. 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 councillor 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.
8. In this case, I am satisfied the Monitoring Officer followed the Council’s published procedures for dealing with complaints that a councillor has breached the code of conduct. The information I have seen shows they considered the information provided by Mr X and spoke to the leader of the relevant political group before deciding not to take further action. The Monitoring Officer considered Mr X’s concerns and the evidence available and explained why they did not consider the complaint should be investigated. They also explained that they cannot consider any matters which are subject to legal action or being considered by the police.
9. I understand Mr 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 Mr X’s concerns, it is unlikely an investigation would find fault.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we have not seen enough evidence of fault in the way the Council came to its decision to justify an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman