Mr B complained because he was unhappy that the Council dismissed his complaint about a planning decision in respect of his mother’s neighbour’s property.
The Ombudsman was concerned that the Council had said it was not accepting Mr B’s complaint because it related to a properly made decision. The Ombudsman considered that the Council could not make this conclusion until it had accepted and investigated the complaint.
The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement to log Mr B’s complaint, issue an acknowledgment letter, apologise to Mr B, offer Mr B a financial redress of £50.00 for the time and trouble taken in making a complaint and to advise its staff of the correct process for accepting complaints. The Council agreed to complete these actions within 20 working days.