Decision details

Cabinet received a report of the Group Head of Democracy and Governance which included a final decision from the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

The Mayor invited Councillor Williams to introduce the report.

Councillor Williams explained the background to the resident’s complaint to the Ombudsman regarding Community Protection and how the service had dealt with the resident’s complaint about noise nuisance and anti-social behaviour arising from a nearby business.  He advised that the council had fulfilled its statutory duty but it was recognised that there had been a failure in communicating this information to the resident.  The Head of Service had carried out an investigation into the complaint, which had been received during the Covid 19 pandemic; a very busy time for the department.  Councillor Dychton, whose portfolio covered community protection had been given assurances that this should not happen again due to the procedures that had been put in place.  He added that the Community Protection team was continuing to engage with the resident, the business and others in order to resolve the problems.

In response to a question from the Mayor about whether there was confidence that this situation would not occur again, the Group Head of Democracy and Governance replied that the department had taken the Ombudsman’s comments on board.  However, Ombudsman’s decisions took some time coming forward and there may be outstanding cases that had been received during the pandemic and prior to any new procedures being put in place.

Following a question about the actions, the Group Head of Democracy and Governance confirmed that she had seen the required letter to the complainant.  She had noted that Councillor Williams had indicated that the compensation payment had also been made.  She would be writing to the Ombudsman to advise the payment had been made and the case could then be closed.

Councillor Stotesbury commented that he wished to thank the council’s staff for the amount of work they did during the pandemic.  He hoped that if any officers felt they had too much work they would let their manager know.

RESOLVED –

1.         that the decision be noted.