Mr B complained that Wrexham County Council had failed to make a decision about an application he had submitted for a Residental Caravan Site Licence. Mr B first made the application in July 2023. He said the Council had not followed the statutory process, caused him wasted time and resources and caused reputational damage.
Our assessment found that Mr B had promptly responded to requests for further information. However, the Council did not consider the information he provided was sufficient. The Council issued a notice of intention to refuse Mr B’s application in October 2023. Following a request for further information on 28 November 2023, which Mr B responded to the following day, he was not contacted again until 25 June 2024 when a request was made to meet with him to discuss the outstanding information.
Subsequently Mr B raised a complaint and a Freedom of Information Act 2000 request. Further correspondence was exchanged with Mr B regarding outstanding information. Mr B disagreed that the information he had provided was not sufficient. At the time of complaining to the Ombudsman in October 2024, his application had not been determined.
The Ombudmsan contacted the Council to agree further action to resolve Mr B’s complaint. The Council agreed to: • Within 4 weeks issue Mr B with a further response which included an apology, recognition and explanation for his application not being considered within the Council’s target completion period, specifically addressing what happened in the period 29 November 2023 – 25 June 2024.
• Within 4 weeks issue Mr B with an apology for incorrectly advising him that a fee was due in respect of his application.
• Allow a further 2 weeks for Mr B to submit any further information in support of his application, following which it agreed to make a decision on the application within 4 weeks.
The Ombudsman considered the actions agreed were reasonable to resolve Mr B’s complaint.