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PART 1. COMPLAINTS | |
| 1. WHAT IS THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT OMBUDSMAN? The office of the Local Government Ombudsman for Wales was created by an Act of Parliament in 1974. He is an independent Commissioner appointed by the Queen. One of his roles is to investigate complaints by members of the public that they have suffered injustice as a result of maladministration by certain local authorities in Wales. He was given further powers in 2001 to investigate allegations that members of local authorities in Wales had failed to comply with the authority's code of conduct. |
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2. WHICH AUTHORITIES? (a) County and County Borough Councils (but not Town or Community Councils) (If you wish to make an allegation of misconduct against an authority member please refer to the "allegations" section because the list of authorities is different in such a case.) |
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| 3. WHO CAN COMPLAIN ABOUT MALADMINSTRATION AND INJUSTICE? Any member of the public who has sustained injustice as a result of the administrative failures of an authority. A group of individuals, a firm or a company may also complain. |
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| 4. WHAT SORT OF COMPLAINTS? Complaints must be about maladministration, and that the maladministration has caused injustice to the person who is complaining. Maladministration covers such things as unjustifiable delay, failure to follow the authority's own rules or the law, bias, the use of improper considerations, the giving of wrong information and many other matters. If you claim that the maladministration is due to a breach by a member of the authority's code of conduct, or if you wish to make an entirely separate allegation of misconduct by a member, please refer to the allegations section. If you wish for advice about your particular complaint then you can write to the address given in the Introduction to this website or telephone for assistance. |
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| 5. HOW DO I COMPLAIN? Your complaint must be in writing, and must specify what you think the authority has done wrong and how that has caused you personal injustice. It would make consideration of your complaint easier if you use the down-loadable complaint form available here. You should include as much detail as possible and attach any supporting evidence such as relevant copy correspondence or other documents. You must normally make your complaint yourself, but if you are unable to act for yourself you may get someone to complain on your behalf as long as that person has your written permission to represent you. If you wish to make an allegation of misconduct by a member, you will need to complete the separate allegation form available here. |
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| 6. WHAT HAPPENS AFTER I HAVE COMPLAINED? If the complaint appears from what you say to be one the Ombudsman can investigate, he or his staff will generally make some preliminary enquiries and write to the authority concerned (enclosing a copy of your complaint and of any supporting documents) to ask for information and its comments. (The authority has to be told of your complaint so that it can have an opportunity to answer it). The Ombudsman will also ask the authority to try to settle your complaint. If settlement is not possible, he will consider your complaint in the light of what you say in your complaint, the authority's observations on your complaint and any other information he has obtained. He will then decide whether he needs to make further enquiries. If, after making such further enquiries as he considers are necessary, he decides that the complaint cannot or should not be investigated further, he will tell you and give you his reasons for his decision. Even if the Ombudsman can continue his enquiries he will need to consider for example whether further investigation will result in a different or worthwhile outcome. |
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| 7. WHAT IF MY COMPLAINT IS INVESTIGATED FURTHER? If the Ombudsman decides to pursue his enquiries to the stage of issuing a public report he will let you know. In most cases where a report is to be issued an investigating officer will visit you and anyone else he or she thinks can help in relation to the complaint. The officer will also visit the authority. On completing the investigation, the Ombudsman will let you and the authority have a copy of his report containing his decision. The report must (other than in very exceptional instances) be made available to the public, but it will not contain anything which would enable you (the complainant) or (generally) any of the witnesses to be identified. All enquiries are carried out in private. (However, if you make an allegation of a breach by a member of an authority's code of conduct, you may be called upon to give evidence in public before the authority's Standards Committee or a tribunal in support of your allegation.) |
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| 8. WHAT HAPPENS IF MY COMPLAINT IS UPHELD? If the Ombudsman upholds your complaint and finds that you have suffered injustice as a result of the authority's failures, he will normally recommend that the authority offers you a remedy for that injustice. His recommendations are not legally binding upon the authority but are acted upon in the vast majority of cases. |
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| 9. ARE THERE ANY MATTERS WHICH HE CANNOT INVESTIGATE? Yes there are a number of matters which he cannot investigate so far as complaints of injustice are concerned. For example, he cannot question the merits of a decision unless there is maladministration. He cannot, therefore, question what an authority has done simply because you do not agree with it. Some issues, such as personnel matters, the internal organisation of and curriculum in schools and commercial/contractual matters (other than the sale or purchase of land) are outside his jurisdiction. He cannot investigate matters which affect all or most of the inhabitants of an authority's area. He cannot normally investigate if there is an alternative remedy by way of an appeal to a government minister, the National Assembly for Wales, a tribunal, through legal proceedings, or if your complaint of injustice is about a matter of which you were aware more than 12 months before you complained. (However, these limitations on the Ombudsman's jurisdiction do not apply to allegations of misconduct). |
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