Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council bullied and harassed him. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council discriminated against him when it wrongly accused him of failing to behave in line with the standards set out for the Group of which he was a member.
2. He said the Council removed him from the Group and this caused him to feel humiliated and distressed.
3. He wants a public apology and for the person responsible to be reprimanded.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
5. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Mr X used to belong to a community Group. Following complaints from other members of the Group about his behaviour in meetings and certain social media posts, a Council officer said he had to leave the Group. They said this was because Mr X had failed to meet the standards of behaviour set out in the Group’s terms of reference and explained why.
9. Mr X complained and a senior manager reviewed the case. They agreed Mr X had failed to abide by the behaviours expected from Group members.
10. The Council explained what behaviour it had concerns about and why it did not meet the Group’s terms of reference. It confirmed complaints had come from several sources, stated it had seen the social media posts and agreed these were inappropriate. There was no evidence of fault in how it made its decision. Therefore, we cannot question the decision itself and we will not investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman