Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the behaviour of local councillors towards a member of the public which Mr X witnessed on a video on social media. There is insufficient evidence of personal injustice to Mr X which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the behaviour of some councillors who were celebrating election results outside a Council building in 2021. He says they acted in a bullying and intimidating manner towards a member of the public.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X says he saw a video online which appeared to show local councillors acting in a bullying/intimidating manner towards a member of the public. The video showed what appeared to be a verbal altercation between councillors who were celebrating election outside a public building and a passer-by who was entering the building.
6. Mr X was not the passer-by or present at the video recording. The context was unclear but the altercation appeared to be following a response to comments by the passer-by.
7. If the person involved in the altercation had felt that the behaviour was bullying or intimidating, they could have made a complaint to the Council’s Monitoring Officer to consider if the Members’ Code of Conduct had been broken.
8. 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.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint about the behaviour of local councillors towards a member of the public which Mr X witnessed on a video on social media. There is insufficient evidence of personal injustice to Mr X which would warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman