Issue - meetings

Local Government Ombudsman Annual Review 2018/19

Meeting: 26/09/2019 - Governance, Audit and Performance Committee (Item 3)

3 Local Government Ombudsman Annual Review 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 56 KB

To receive the Local Government Ombudsman Annual Review for 2018/19.  

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair brought Item 4 forward in the agenda.

 

The Chief Executive gave a summary of the report which said that the annual review letter had been received from the Local Government Ombudsman summarising the complaints relating to the Council’s services dealt with by the Ombudsman’s office for the year ended 31 March 2019. The report also detailed the complaints and compliments received by the council in the same period.

 

In response to Member questions, the Chief Executive said both upheld complaints were regarding the nature of the Planning Department’s advice to applicants. Corrective action had been taken in both cases, and the Council had shared its improvement plan with the Ombudsman. There had been issues in the department in Quarter 3 of the 2018-19 municipal year. She had held meetings with staff to understand what the problem was, and additional permanent staff had been recruited to help resolve the issue. The situation continued to be monitored.