Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about standard committees because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

The complaint

1. Mrs Y complained the Council has dismissed her complaint, rather than investigating the behaviour of a councillor, on the basis that it happened more than three months ago, even though Mrs Y was unaware of it until more recently.
2. Mrs Y says the situation has caused upset and anxiety.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. 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)
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 there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (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 Mrs Y provided and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mrs Y complained to the Council, in June 2024, after she became aware a local councillor had not disclosed information about a potential planning application in the area in 2022. The Council considered whether to investigate the complaint about the member. It considered the nature of the information, whether it was pecuniary or not, the timing of the action and whether it was in the public interest to investigate. It concluded that it would not investigate as the action had taken place more than three months before Mrs Y made her complaint.
7. 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.
8. In this case, the Council has considered the complaint issue and found that the criteria, as set out in its policy, was not met for it to investigate the alleged breach of the code of conduct. While Mrs Y may disagree with the Council’s policy, it has followed its policy, which says it will not investigate if it is over three months since the alleged behaviour unless there are exceptional circumstances and has been able to explain its rationale for its decision. Consequently, we would not find fault in its decision-making process and there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating this complaint.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mrs Y’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman