The Ombudsman found that the Council had failed to consider Ms X’s concerns under its formal complaints procedure. She said this caused uncertainty and frustration for Ms X. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without an investigation.
The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement to, within 2 weeks, apologise to Ms X that her concerns were not escalated through its formal complaints procedure and to issue a stage 1 complaint response which will include a timeline of planned works and completion.