West Lancashire Borough Council (26 003 034)
Category : Other Categories > Councillor conduct and standards
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 02 Sep 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate how the Council dealt with a councillor conduct complaint as this did not cause significant injustice.
The complaint
- Mr X complains the Council did not properly investigate his complaint about councillor conduct around a disclosable pecuniary interest. Mr X says this caused him frustration and anger.
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 injustice to the person who complained (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- I recognise that Mr X remains unhappy about the Council’s handling of his complaint, but we will not investigate as I do not consider he is personally impacted by this, or the councillor conduct, to a degree that would warrant our further involvement.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the alleged fault has not given rise to significant personal injustice to him.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman