Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to Mr X’s complaint about councillor conduct. This is because there is insufficient remaining injustice caused to Mr X to warrant our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council’s response to his complaint that a councillor failed to respond to his requests for information, forcing him to make an official freedom of information request. Mr X felt ignored and seeks a personal apology from the councillor.

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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 any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement (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. The Council assessed Mr X’s complaint and concluded that no further action should be taken. It advised Mr X that the councillor offered an apology for not explaining to Mr X that he could not respond to all emails due to the volume he receives.
6. From our perspective, there is insufficient remaining injustice to Mr X to warrant our involvement. We cannot obtain a personal apology from the councillor or add to what the Council has already said.
7. For these reasons, we will not investigate.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he is not caused a level of injustice from it to warrant our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman