Issue - meetings

To receive the Local Government Ombudsman Report 2019/20.

The Assistant Director – Corporate Services gave a summary of the report, which included the annual review letter from the Local Government Ombudsman that summarised the complaints relating to the Council’s services dealt with by the Ombudsman’s office for the year ended 31 March 2020. The report also detailed the complaints and compliments received by the Council in the same period.

He said that in last year’s report relating to 2018/19 two cases had been highlighted that appeared in the Ombudsman Annual Review 2019/20 letter where the Council had been found at fault. Both cases related to the Planning Service and had resulted in the Council paying out £7,034 in compensation. A further four complaints had been received during 2019/20 and all had been closed after initial enquiries.

The Assistant Director – Corporate Services also referred to Appendix B of the report that showed the number of complaints received by the Council during the 2019/20 period. He said that 16 of 106 complaints had been upheld and that this information had been reviewed quarterly by the Council’s Corporate Management Team, in order to share any lessons learnt.

Councillor Bagnall referred to Appendix B of the report and asked whether there was a particular pattern of complaints in Planning.

The Assistant Director – Corporate Services said that people were frequently unhappy with planning decisions and referred to the numbers of cases upheld. In response to a follow-up question from Councillor Bagnall, he said that Members would be provided with more details on complainants’ cases in future where these complaints were upheld after internal investigation.

Councillor Jones commented that although the 100% implementation of recommendations from the Ombudsman indicated that the Council had done well, there was still a preference not to have to reach that point in the process in the first place.

The Chair noted the contents of the Ombudsman’s annual review letter and the position with regards to complaints and compliments for the year ended 31 March 2020.