The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s delay and failure to respond to the complainant’s enquiries in her required format. The Council has apologised for its failings and confirms it has spoken to staff and is reviewing the accessibility of its services. We consider this a suitable remedy to the complaint and that further investigation is unlikely to lead to a different outcome.
The complaint
The complainant, I shall call Ms X, complains the Council failed to respond to her enquiries in her required format. She also says it delayed in its eventual response.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure.’ In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended) Also, we 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))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Ms X made repeated requests for the Council to respond to her enquiries about discretionary funding. She confirmed in her emails that she cannot use the telephone and asked for an email address or response.
In response to one of her repeated enquiries the Council sent her a link to its website. Unfortunately, the link sent Ms X to a web page which told her to telephone the Council.
Ms X contacted her local councillor who enquired on her behalf. Ms X confirms she has now accessed the funding she needed. However, she remains dissatisfied that the Council took so long to reply to her. And when it did reply, officers directed her to telephone the Council despite telling them she cannot use the telephone.
A Senior Officer investigated Ms X’s complaint. He recognised she had asked for email contact only and the Council had failed to pay attention to her needs. He apologised to Ms X for this failure.
The Council confirmed it has spoken to its teams reminding them of appropriate responses to enquiries. It also confirms it is reviewing the accessibility of its services to identify areas of improvement.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint. The Council has apologised for failing to contact her in her required format, and the delay in its response. It confirms it is reviewing accessibility of its services. This is an appropriate remedy to the complaint, and it is unlikely that further investigation will lead to a different outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman