Summary: We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint that the Council misused emergency powers to allocate £50,000 of taxpayer money to a non-emergency project. This is because the issue affects all or most of the people in the Council’s area. We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint that the Council did not follow the proper process in recruiting for the project as it concerns a personnel matter.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Miss X, complains the Council failed to follow the proper process in allocating £50,000 of taxpayer money to a non-emergency project. She also complains the Council recruited a project manager without properly advertising the post or attempting to obtain best value for money.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. This complaint involves events that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Government introduced a range of new and frequently updated rules and guidance during this time. We can consider whether the council followed the relevant legislation, guidance and our published “Good Administrative Practice during the response to COVID-19”.
3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

4. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
5. We cannot investigate something that affects all or most of the people in a council’s area. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(7), as amended)
6. We cannot investigate a complaint if it is about a personnel issue. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5a, paragraph 4, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

7. I reviewed Miss X’s complaint and the Council’s responses. I shared my draft decision with Miss X and considered her comments.

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What I found

8. In 2020 the Council decided to allocate £50,000 to a non-emergency project. Miss X says it did not follow the proper process and that instead of putting the matter to councillors or its cabinet to decide whether to fund the project, officers within the Council made the decision under emergency powers introduced to deal with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. She believes this was wrong.
9. Miss X also complains the Council recruited for the project without following the proper process. She says the Council failed to obtain best value for money as it did not advertise the post properly and is unhappy as she and others may have wished to apply.
10. Miss X does not claim significant personal injustice from the Council’s decision to fund the project; her complaint focuses on the impact of the decision on the Council’s finances. This is an issue affecting ‘all or most’ of the people in the Council’s area, rather than Miss X personally, and as such it is not subject to investigation as set out at Paragraph 5.
11. While Miss X is unhappy that she missed an opportunity to apply for the vacancy the law also prohibits us from investigating complaints about personnel matters. This means we cannot look at the Council’s recruitment process or provide any remedy for Miss X’s inability to apply for the vacancy.

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Final decision

12. We cannot investigate this complaint. This is because the cost of the project is an issue which affects all or most of the people in the Council’s area and Miss X’s concerns about the recruitment process concern a personnel matter.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman