South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council (26 009 429)
Category : Other Categories > Councillor conduct and standards
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 13 Jul 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a complaint about the conduct of councillors. This is because it is made late.
The complaint
- X complains that the Council failed to respond to a complaint they made about the conduct of councillors in 2021.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- I will not investigate X’s complaint. The issues they have raised go back several years and I see no good reason why X could not have complained sooner to the Ombudsman about these matters, or about the Council’s failure to respond to their complaint.
Final decision
- We will not investigate X’s complaint because it is made late.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman