Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of his complaint about a councillor’s conduct. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council has refused to investigate his complaint that a councillor breached the code of conduct. It has also refused to investigate his complaint about the Monitoring Officer’s conduct. He says by doing so, the Council has failed in its responsibility to maintain high standards in a public office. He wants the Council to investigate his complaints and improve its service.

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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 there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
3. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Councils have a duty to designate a Monitoring Officer to ensure the lawfulness and fairness of their decision making. The Monitoring Officer must ensure that the authority, its officers and members maintain the highest standards of conduct. Each council has different rules for dealing with complaints about code of conduct breaches.
7. The Ombudsman does not provide an appeal against the Monitoring Officer’s decisions. We are also unable to investigate or comment on the actions of the councillor complained about. When 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. The Council’s procedures state that when it receives a complaint about a councillor’s conduct, the Monitoring Officer will review it and, after consultation with an Independent Person, decide whether the complaint merits further investigation.
9. In this case, the Monitoring Officer appropriately considered Mr X’s complaint and the information he provided and consulted with the Independent Person. They decided there was insufficient evidence the councillor had breached the Code of Conduct to merit further investigation. Although Mr X may disagree with this, the Council appears to have followed its procedures and there is insufficient evidence of fault in its decision making for us to investigate.
10. In relation to Mr X’s complaint about the Monitoring Officer, the Council decided Mr X’s complaint related to the Monitoring Officer’s decision, rather than their conduct. It said there was no right of appeal against the Monitoring Officer’s decision. As such, it was outside of its complaints procedure, and it would not investigate.
11. Councils have discretion to decide whether accept complaints under their complaints procedure and as long as a council appropriately considers the matters raised and has regard to its procedures, we would not question the outcome. The Council appropriately considered the content of Mr X’s complaint before reaching its decision it would not investigate. It wrote to Mr X to advise him of its decision and the reasons for this. There is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s actions and so we will not investigate.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s actions to warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman