Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council’s monitoring officer dealt with a complaint about the actions of a councillor. This is because we are unlikely to find fault.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr X, has complained about the Monitoring Officer’s decision to take no further action in relation to his complaint about the behaviour of a local councillor. Mr X says the Monitoring Officer failed to properly consider his concerns and ignored the evidence.

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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.

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

3. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Local Authorities have a duty to designate a Monitoring Officer to ensure the lawfulness and fairness of authority decision making. The Monitoring Officer must ensure that the authority, its officers and members maintain the highest standards of conduct.
6. The Ombudsman does not provide an appeal against the Monitoring Officer’s decisions. We can only look at how the complaint was considered. We are also unable to investigate or comment on the actions of the councillor complained about.
7. Where a decision has been made in line with the correct procedure, taking account of the relevant evidence, the Ombudsman will generally not criticise the decision, even if the complainant does not agree with it.
8. In this case, I am satisfied the Monitoring Officer dealt with the matter in line with the Council’s rules for code of conduct complaints. After considering Mr X’s complaint the Monitoring Officer decided not to take any further action as the allegations did not merit investigation or the use of public funds and officer time. This was a decision the Monitoring Officer was entitled to make and the reasons for not taking further action were explained to Mr X.
9. As the Monitoring Officer properly considered Mr X’s concerns and dealt with his complaint in line with its policy, it is unlikely I could find fault by the Council.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we are unlikely to find fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman