Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of his complaint about councillors. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the outcome of the Council’s investigation into a Code of Conduct complaint about councillors. He says it did not consider the evidence appropriately.
2. Mr X also complains about matters related to the Council’s complaint handling and said the investigation took too long to complete.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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))
5. 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

6. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Mr X complained to the Council about the conduct of councillors. In response, an investigating officer assessed the matter and found no breach of its code of conduct. The officer outlined the evidence considered and set out the reasons for their findings in detail. The Council’s Audit and Governance (Hearing) Sub-Committee agreed with the findings. The investigating officer also considered the additional evidence Mr X supplied before the hearing and said it did not change their findings.
9. I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. The Ombudsman does not provide a further appeal against the Council’s decision. We can only look at how the complaint was considered. Relevant to this case, the investigating officer considered the relevant evidence and explained why they considered there had been no breach in detail. There is not enough evidence of fault in the way the Council considered the matter to justify investigating.
10. It would not be a good use of public money to investigate any delays in the Council’s complaint handling and communication when I will not investigate the substantive matter of this complaint.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’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