Summary: We will not investigate how the Council handled Mr X’s councillor conduct complaint. Mr X wishes to complain anonymously but we will not proceed on that basis.

The complaint

1. Mr X is unhappy the Council refused to progress a councillor conduct complaint he made to it as he did so using a pseudonym. Mr X considers the Council misapplied its procedure in coming to this decision.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. It is our decision whether to start, and when to end an investigation into something the law allows us to investigate. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)
4. We can only accept complaints from members of the public who claim to have suffered injustice, or from their authorised representative. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26A, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. We will not investigate as legally we need to satisfy ourselves that the person complaining is a member of the public who has suffered injustice as a consequence of their complaint. I do not consider we can do this based on the information Mr X has provided.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we cannot substantiate if Mr X is complaining as a member of the public who has suffered injustice as a result of his complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman