Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s response concerns he raised about the actions of a Councillor because he has not suffered significant enough personal injustice to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council’s response to concerns he raised about the actions of a Councillor. He believes the Council should respond to his concerns under safeguarding and data protection policies. He says the officers responsible for investigating his complaint are ‘conflicted’.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide:

• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. Mr X complained to us when the Council decided his concerns about the actions of the Councillor did not meet the threshold for a safeguarding investigation. We decided not to investigate his complaint because he had not suffered a personal injustice.
6. Mr X continued to pursue the matter with the Council. He contacted the Information Commissioner’s Office in connection with what he believes to be data protection matters. He contacted members of the Council’s cabinet and the monitoring officer. Unhappy with the response he received, Mr X complained to us again.
7. We would not normally investigate the Council’s handling of a complaint if we were not also investigating the underlying substantive issues.
8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaints about data protection because these are matters for the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). I understand Mr X has already contacted the ICO.
9. We previously decided not to investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s decision not to conduct a safeguarding investigation. We decided Mr X did not suffer sufficient personal injustice.
10. We are not, therefore, investigating the underlying substantive issues.
11. In any event, Mr X has not suffered significant enough personal injustice from the Council’s alleged failure to respond to his concerns to his satisfaction to justify investigation by us.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s response concerns he raised about the actions of a Councillor because he has not suffered significant enough personal injustice to justify an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman