Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s investigation into alleged racism by the Chair and Vice Chair of a group of which the Council is a member. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. The group is not a Council group and the Chair and Vice Chair are not Councillors or Council Officers. We cannot achieve the outcome the complainant is seeking.

The complaint

1. The complainant, I shall call Mr E, complains the Council failed to carry out a full investigation into his complaint about the actions of members of a non-Council working group.
2. He says the Chair and Vice Chair are still in post and he wants the Council to remove them.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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:

• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants

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

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mr E and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr E is a member of a working group set up to improve the town’s high street. The Terms of Reference for the group confirms its members are from different heritage and cultural community organisations. The Council is also a member but there is no lead organisation, it is an equal partnership.
7. The Terms of Reference confirm there is no mechanism for removing the Chair or Vice Chair. Nor are either of these two positions filled by Councillors or Council staff.
8. Mr E is not satisfied with the investigation carried out by the Council and wants the Chair and Vice Chair removed.
9. The Council cannot achieve this outcome. Nor can the Ombudsman.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr E’s complaint because we could not add to the investigation already carried out by the Council. And we cannot achieve the outcome he is seeking.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman