Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council refuses to investigate his complaints about Councillor Y’s reported conversations in 2021 and actions in earlier years. There is no fault in the Council not reconsidering earlier events including between 2012 and 2018. It is not responsible for the tree preservation order which was originally of concern to Mr X. It is not a good use of limited public resources to investigate what Councillor Y said in 2021.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council has refused to investigate his complaints:
1. That Councillor Y in May 2021 denied comments made to Mr X in 2018 about arranging a surgery meeting to discuss Mr X’s concerns about actions of the Council’s audit team. Mr X says Councillor Y lied about holding a surgery at the civic centre and also refused to meet him. The Council had completed an audit on behalf of a borough council which is the local planning authority responsible for maintaining the register of planning applications and actions on Tree Preservation Orders (TPO’s). Mr X had a complaint about a TPO going back to 2012 or earlier.
2. That a third party told Mr X, at a leisure activity he attended, about a conversation he had started with Councillor Y in March 2021 in which Councillor Y indicated and/or stated his view that Mr X has mental health problems and was ‘mad’. Mr X says Councillor Y should not make a derogatory comment or mock people with mental health issues.

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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))

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I have considered Mr X’s information and comments. The Council has supplied complaint correspondence.

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My assessment

6. I will not investigate this complaint for the following reasons:
7. The Ombudsman investigates fault causing injustice. There is no fault or injustice in the Council refusing to consider again a complaint about actions relating to the Tree Preservation Order (TPO) or audit team. On 19 January 2016 the Council wrote to Mr X and explained the Borough Council is responsible for TPO’s and the register. The Council had a limited role in undertaking an audit of the register on behalf of the Borough Council which it had requested. The Council is correct to advise Mr X that any complaint about the matter should go to the Borough Council. Councillor Y is also a councillor at the Borough Council. It is not a good use of limited public resources to investigate what Councillor Y said, in May 2021, about earlier events.
8. A complaint about actions before February 2021 is outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction (see paragraph 3 and 4 above). Mr X complains late and outside the permitted period of 12 months. This includes Mr X’s complaints about the TPO and register which as explained above is not the responsibility of the County Council. Mr X says he dropped his concerns for some years due to the health of his wife. Should Mr X complain about the Borough Council we are unlikely to investigate because he could have complained sooner.
9. It is not a good use of limited public resources to investigate the complaint about Councillor Y’s alleged comments to a third party in March 2021 about Mr X’s mental health. The conversation is hearsay and I note Mr X has taken nearly a year to complain to this office.

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Final decision

10. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council refuses to investigate his complaints about Councillor Y’s reported conversations in 2021 and actions in earlier years. There is no fault in the Council not reconsidering earlier events including between 2012 and 2018. It is not responsible for the tree preservation order which was originally of concern to Mr X. It is not a good use of limited public resources to investigate what Councillor Y said in 2021.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman