Central Bedfordshire Council (26 002 706)
Category : Other Categories > Councillor conduct and standards
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 07 Sep 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate how the Council dealt with a complaint about councillor conduct as it did not cause the complainant a significant injustice.
The complaint
- Mr X complains the Council did not allow him to see, and respond to, a councillor’s comments in response to the complaint he made against them regarding their conduct in a town council matter. Mr X says this has caused him frustration.
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 alleged fault has not caused significant injustice to the person who complained. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
- We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner if they have a complaint about data protection/information access rights. However, we may decide to investigate if we think there are good reasons. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- I recognise Mr X says he has been left frustrated by the Council’s handling of his complaint, but this does not represent a level of injustice that would warrant our further involvement. We have limited resources and must direct them to the most serious cases.
- The Information Commissioner’s Office is best placed to assess whether the Council should have supplied Mr X with the information he sought.
- For these reasons, we will not investigate.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because any injustice caused to him is not sufficient to justify our further involvement.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman