Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council's handling of a complaint alleging fraudulent conduct by a councillor as this impacts all or most of the people in the Council's area and so is not within our remit. This is also essentially a matter for the police.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council has refused to investigate her complaint of fraudulent conduct by a councillor due to the councillor no longer being in office. Mrs X has concerns the councillor’s conduct potentially calls into question the integrity of Council audits and that this should be investigated/passed to the police.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We cannot investigate an action that we decide affects all or most of the people living in an organisation’s area. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(7), as amended)
4. 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 any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement; or there is another body better placed to consider this complaint (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. The injustice Mrs X claims from the councillor’s conduct impacts all or most of the people in the council's area and this is not therefore a matter within our legal remit. The injustice caused to Mrs X from the alleged fault by the Council in refusing to investigate her complaint is not sufficient to justify us investigating this as a standalone matter plus it is unlikely we could avoid straying into matters not within our remit in so doing. Additionally, Mrs X’s complaint relates to alleged criminal conduct and would not therefore be a matter for us but rather for the police. Mrs X can also raise her concerns with the Council’s independent auditor.
8. For these reasons, we will not investigate.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it essentially is not within our remit and can be dealt with by other bodies.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman