Agenda item

Report No: PAS/WS/19/013

The Committee received Report No: PAS/WS/19/013, presented by the Cabinet Member for Resources and Performance, which set out the recommended approach in reporting Ombudsman complaints as contained in Section 4 of the report. 

The report set out the background and context; number of complaints for Forest Heath District Council and St Edmundsbury Borough Council; outcome of complaints considered by the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO); considering LGO outcomes in future and conclusions.

The LGO issues an annual report on its activity, which maps the volume and nature of complaints received across the Country.  Each Council was also issued with its own performance report.  The report presented to the Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee informed members on the outcome of the final annual performance reports for Forest Heath and St Edmundsbury Councils, in comparison to national performance measures. 

Two cases were upheld at Forest Heath Council.  One case was reported to the former Forest Heath Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee in October 2018, and details of the second case was attached as Appendix 1 to the report.  With regards to the second case, the LGO felt the Council had already taken all necessary action to resolve the complaint.  However, whilst it was disappointing that two cases had been upheld, this represented just 12.5% of the complaints the LGO considered in the year.

Historically, officers reported to the Forest Heath and St Edmundsbury Performance and Audit Committees where there was a finding of fault on the part of the Council, and the Council was required to pay compensation.  This reporting was confirming to the Committee what had already occurred, as the Council was often given limited time to remedy such findings. With this in mind, officers suggest that in future, where the Ombudsman finds fault but the remedy suggested was less than £1,000, such cases would be included in the LGO annual report. Where the remedy suggested was more than £1,000, or in the rare event the officers considered the Council should reject the findings of the Ombudsman, such cases would be reported to the next meeting of the Performance and Audit Committee.

The Committee considered the report and asked questions, to which responses were provided. 

The Committee discussed the five housing complaints in relation to St Edmundsbury and the one for Forest heath last year, and questioned why St Edmundsbury was higher.  In response officers explained that the LGO did not uphold any of those complaints.  The two authorities had used the same officers and processes, therefore there should not have be an issue.  At the time there was a difference in housing allocation between the two former Councils, which was resolved when we became West Suffolk Council, and it might be a statistical anomaly or St Edmundsbury residents had a higher tendency to register complaints.  However, officers agreed to provide a written response.

The Committee also discussed the one case where the Council had not issued a letter to the resident when a couple of properties were built beside them, and questioned whether the Council had done anything specifically different following the outcome, such as changes made to procedures or IT systems, to which officers agreed to provide a written response. 

Members were pleased to note the low level of complaints raised with the LGO.  However, members questioned when complaints were upheld by the LGO whether the Council reviewed its processes, to which officers duly responded and provided examples.

There being no decision required, the Committee noted the recommended approach to reporting Ombudsman complaints, as set out in Section 4 of Report No: PAS/WS/19/013.