Kingston Upon Hull City Council (23 017 092)
Category : Other Categories > Councillor conduct and standards
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 02 Feb 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: Mr X complains the Council failed to address his complaints properly about a councillor. We will not investigate as this complaint was received outside our usual 12-month period for investigating. And, I have seen no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner.
The complaint
- In short, Mr X complains the Council failed to address his complaints properly about a councillor. He says shocking statements have been made about his conduct.
- Mr X would like the entries about himself corrected/deleted.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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 has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant which includes his contact with the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- I will not investigate as Mr X has made his complaint late to us about matters arising in 2021- 2022. I do not see good reasons to investigate as I have seen nothing to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner than he has.
- Further, even if we did exercise discretion to investigate it is unlikely that we would find evidence of the Council acting with fault.
- We do not offer a right of appeal against a council’s decision on member conduct complaints, but we can consider if there was fault in the way the council considered the complaint.
- The Council considered Mr X’s complaint that a councillor had breached the Members Code of Conduct in relation to the matters which impacted Mr X. However, it decided there was insufficient evidence for the complaint to be taken further. It also advised him of his right to approach the Information Commissioner.
Final decision
- I will not investigate this late complaint. There are no good reasons to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman