Ms B complained that Conwy County Borough Council failed to appropriately respond and deal with the concerns she raised about her property in line with the its policies and procedures.
The Ombudsman’s investigation found that the Council failed to appropriately update and inform Ms B about its complaint handling, complaint process or the options available to her. She found that the complaint handling failings amounted to maladministration which were an injustice to Ms B as she was not adequately informed by the Council and experienced delays in the handling of her complaint. Accordingly, this element of Ms B’s complaint was upheld.
The Ombudsman’s investigation found that in response to the concerns Ms B raised about her property, the Council initially took appropriate informal action in line with its procures. However, Ms B’s complaint was subsequently closed by the Council whilst issues in her property remained. The Ombudsman found that there was a delay in the Council making enquiries and obtaining information about the cause of the issues which resulted in a delaying Ms B’s concerns being appropriately investigated and addressed, which was an injustice to her. Accordingly, the Ombudsman partly upheld this element of Ms B’s complaint.
The Ombudsman recommended that the Council apologised and offered a payment of £250 to Ms B for the failings identified. She also recommended that the Council reminded its complaint handling staff and regulatory and enforcement department in the importance of updating complainants and the timely handling of concerns and making enquiries.