Cardiff’s Plaid Cymru group leader Councillor Neil McEvoy has accused Labour activists of abusing the Ombudsman system.
Councillor McEvoy hit out after the Ombudsman’s office confirmed it would not investigate a complaint by former city Labour group leader Ralph Cook against him. This followed criticism of council officers over the way the snow fall which hit Cardiff before Christmas was handled.
In its ruling the Ombudsman’s office said: “I have considered the contents of both articles (December 20/January 14) and in my view Councillor McEvoy was expressing the concerns voiced to him by members of the public about the way the council dealt with the snowfall as a result of the severe weather in December 2010.
“Members may legitimately question policy or scrutinise a council’s performance, especially when reflecting concerns expressed to them by the public, although such issues should be properly directly through the appropriate channels within the council rather than in the media.
“However, having carefully considered the contents of the articles, I note that an individual officer is not named or identified personally and the contents itself are not rude or offensive to a named individual.”
The Ombudsman’s Office said it had advised Councillor McEvoy to raise issues through the “appropriate channels” rather than through the media.
Councillor McEvoy said: “This complaint should never have been made. A total of 14 complaints have been made about me, nearly all by Labour activists and they all have been dismissed.
“Only last month Councillor Cook complained recently about the cost of an investigation and tribunal into a complaint made against him. Then he makes a complaint to the Ombudsman about me, costing public money. That’s hypocritical. As far as I’m concerned activists like Councillor Cook are abusing the Ombudsman system because they run to it at the earliest opportunity.
“I do note the advice of the Ombudsman that I should raise issues of concern through the council rather than in the media and I will take that fully on board.”
