City of York Council (25 029 153)
Category : Other Categories > Councillor conduct and standards
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 21 Sep 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about how the Council handled his Code of Conduct complaint. This is because any injustice is not significant enough to justify an investigation by the Ombudsman.
The complaint
- Mr X complains about how the Council handled his Code of Conduct complaint.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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 any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X complained to the Council about a councillor’s behaviour. He says the Council failed to keep him updated on his complaint and delayed giving its outcome. He says the Council did not provide a detailed explanation of its decision.
- The Council told Mr X it had considered his complaint in line with its Code of Conduct process. It said it would not investigate his complaint because it had decided the councillor was representing his constituents’ interests in line with Council policy.
- I will not investigate this complaint. Our role is to consider complaints where the person bringing the complaint has suffered significant personal injustice as a direct result of the actions or inactions of the organisation. This means we will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures. We will not normally investigate a complaint where the alleged loss or injustice is not a serious or significant matter.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because any injustice is not significant enough to warrant an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman