Mr R complained about Carmarthenshire County Council’s handling of a planning application for a neighboring property and said he had not received a response to his complaint.
The Ombudsman found that Mr R had requested his complaint be escalated to stage 2of the complaints process in October and November 2023, but the Council had not progressed the complaint. The Ombudsman said this caused frustration to Mr R and decided to settle the complaint without an investigation.
The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement to apologise to Mr R for failing to progress the complaint and to explain the reasons for the failure. The Council also agreed to offer Mr R a redress payment of £50 in recognition of the delay and to issue its complaint response within 4 weeks.