Don’t miss out on chance to learn from complaints, Ombudsman urges

Councils should view complaints as an opportunity to improve services, the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) has recommended.

The message comes following a case in which a council missed the opportunity to learn from a number of recommendations made by the LGO after it received a series of complaints.

In the recent case, a Lambeth woman was involved in a nine-year struggle over the purchase of her council flat. Throughout the period her problems were compounded by delay and a lack of communication by her local council.

The woman was told by London Borough of Lambeth Council that she could buy her flat in 2006, but because of problems with a shared water supply, it took until November 2014 for her to complete the purchase.

The woman complained to the LGO about the council’s handling of the sale; and despite the Ombudsman securing an appropriate remedy for her complaints on three separate occasions, the council failed to learn from the recommendations and continued to provide the woman with poor service.

The council completed the sale of the property shortly after the woman complained to the Ombudsman for a fifth time in October 2014. But having investigated her latest complaint, the LGO found Lambeth council at fault because it had not progressed the sale for 13 months, and , despite assurances to the contrary, had not paid the £500 remedy it agreed in 2013. The LGO investigation also found the council at fault for its poor communication about the lack of progress of the sale.

Local Government Ombudsman, Dr Jane Martin, said:

“All too often complaints are seen in a negative light, but in doing so authorities can waste a valuable opportunity to look at what has gone on and put things right, not just for the individual but for other people in future.

“It is particularly disappointing to see in this case that the council had the opportunity to put things right, but has not taken the chance to learn lessons from this woman’s previous complaints.

“I now strongly urge Lambeth council to consider my recommendations and ensure the woman is kept fully informed in future.”

To remedy the situation, the council has been asked to apologise to the woman. It has also been asked to nominate a senior officer to act as a point of contact for the woman to give her quarterly progress reports until the outstanding works are completed.

The council has also been asked to pay the woman £500 to acknowledge the uncertainty, frustration, distress and inconvenienced caused and decide and respond to the woman’s request to refund her legal costs.

Article date: 22 September 2015

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