Mrs H complained that the Council had failed to address her concerns that its investigation of her planning complaint had not been dealt with in an impartial and transparent manner.
The Council had previously been asked by the Ombudsman to conduct an investigation into the way it had handled Mrs H’s planning complaint. The Council subsequently offered Mrs H a £100 payment in recognition of its poor complaint handling (which the Ombudsman considered to be reasonable), but it had failed to acknowledge or reflect on Mrs H’s perception of bias and partiality in the way the planning complaint had been investigated.
The Ombudsman therefore contacted the Council and it agreed to complete the following actions by 9 September 2022 in settlement of Mrs H’s complaint: Write to Mrs H to acknowledge the perceived bias/partiality and apologise for failing to acknowledge this sooner.
Reiterate the previously made offer of £100 in recognition of its poor complaint handling.
Contact the Complaints Standards Authority to arrange a training session for the Council’s Complaints Team on perceived bias/partiality.