West Devon Borough Council (22 015 053)

Category : Planning > Other

Decision : Upheld

Decision date : 24 Feb 2023

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about failures in the Council’s complaints handling. The Council has apologised, explained what steps it has taken to improve the way it responds to complaints and offered the complainant £100 as a gesture of goodwill. We are satisfied this is a proportionate response to the complaint and that further investigation will not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

  1. The complainant, I shall call Mr X, complains the Council failed to follow its complaints procedure when dealing with the multiple concerns he has raised.
  2. He says he has to chase responses to his complaints and believes the Council has not taken his complaint seriously.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

  1. If we are satisfied with an organisation’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

  1. I considered information provided by Mr X.
  2. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

  1. The Council acknowledges Mr X has had to chase for a response to some of his complaints. I also accept its responses were sometimes late.
  2. It confirms it is taking specific action to address response times for complaints to its planning department. It is also states it is managing complaints to support services in general.
  3. The Council also commissioned training on effective complaint handling from the Ombudsman. This was delivered in 2022.
  4. In recognition of its failure to adhere fully to its complaints procedure when dealing with Mr X’s concerns, the Council offered Mr X a payment of £100 as a gesture of goodwill.

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Final decision

  1. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. We acknowledge Mr X found the poor complaints handling frustrating and believes the Council has not taken him seriously. However, he has received responses to the complaints he made.
  2. The Council has explained the steps it is taking to improve the way it deals with complaints. It has also apologised to Mr X and offered him £100. We consider this remedy proportionate to the recognised fault and in line with the Ombudsman’s guidance on remedies.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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