Summary: Miss X complained the Council delayed paying her the remedy agreed following an Ombudsman investigation. The Council was at fault. It did not complete the payment to Miss X until May 2018, seven months later than agreed. The Council agreed to apologise to Miss X and pay her £200 to recognise the distress, frustration and uncertainty the delay caused her.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council took seven months to make a payment to her which it agreed to do within one month following a previous Ombudsman investigation. Miss X said the delays caused her distress and frustration and prolonged the injustice caused.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I spoke to Miss X about her complaint.
5. I considered the Council’s response to my enquiry letter.
6. Miss X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. Neither Miss X or the Council provided any comments for me to consider.

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What I found

7. Miss X complained to the Ombudsman in April 2017. The Ombudsman found fault in September 2017. The Council agreed to pay Miss X a sum of money within one month of the decision to remedy the injustice caused.
8. Miss X contacted the Ombudsman in February 2018 and said she still had not received the agreed payment from the Council. The Council said it wrote to Miss X following the Ombudsman’s decision and asked her for her bank account details so it could process the payment but did not receive a reply from her. The Council wrote to Miss X again in February 2018 and asked again for her bank account details.
9. Miss X emailed the Council in March 2018 with her bank account details. Miss X said she sent further emails to the Council during March and April 2018 asking it for an update but she did not receive any replies.
10. In May 2018 Miss X complained to the Council it had failed to make the payment agreed following the Ombudsman’s investigation. Miss X said she did not receive any correspondence from the Council until after the Ombudsman contacted it in February 2018. Miss X said she provided the Council with her bank details in March 2018 and had heard nothing further.
11. The Council responded to Miss X at stage 1 in May 2018. It apologised for the delay in completing the payment to Miss X. It said it was unaware Miss X did not receive the letter it sent to her following the Ombudsman’s decision in 2017. The Council said it appeared both it and Miss X were waiting for each other to make contact. The Council said the officer dealing with Miss X’s payment went on unplanned sickness in March 2018 and did not return to work until May 2018 which was why the matter did not progress. It said nobody else had access to the officer’s email so were unaware of the previous correspondence. The Council said it had created a new generic email address to process compensation payments which all officers in the department now have access to. The Council paid Miss X at the end of May 2018.
12. Miss X was unhappy with the Council’s response and asked it to escalate her complaint to stage 2. The Council wrote to Miss X and said it accepted it had delayed processing the payment. The Council sent Miss X a bunch of flowers to recognise the inconvenience the delays caused her.
13. Miss X remained unhappy with the Council’s response and complained to the Ombudsman.

My findings

14. The investigation completed by the Ombudsman in 2017 was one of a sensitive nature which caused Miss X significant distress. The Council agreed to pay Miss X a sum of money by October 2017 to remedy the injustice caused following the Ombudsman’s finding of fault. The Council wrote to Miss X to ask for her bank details however Miss X said she did not receive the letter. There was no evidence which showed the Council made any further attempts to contact Miss X to process the payment until the Ombudsman made contact in February 2018.
15. Miss X provided the Council with her bank account details in March 2018. However, the payment was not made until the end of May 2018 because the Council officer was off sick. The Council’s procedure at the time meant no other employee had access to the officer’s email so it was unaware and could not progress the matter. As already mentioned above, the Council has already changed how it deals with compensation payments.
16. The Council had agreed to pay Miss X the sum of money by October 2017, but because of the delays it did not pay her until May 2018. That was fault. The delays caused Miss X distress, frustration and uncertainty. It also prevented Miss X from having closure on what was a sensitive and distressing investigation carried out by the Ombudsman in 2017.

Agreed action

17. The Council agreed within one month of the final decision to apologise to Miss X and pay her £200 to recognise the avoidable distress, frustration and uncertainty the delays caused her.

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Final decision

18. I have completed my investigation. I found fault leading to injustice and the Council agreed to my recommendations.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman