Issue - meetings

Members considered a report on the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) Annual Review letter 2021/22. This report examined the Annual Review Letter which covered complaints that were either received or decided by the LGSCO during the 2021/22 period.

Section 2 of the report included the annual review figures, these were summarised to the Committee and highlighted in the Executive Summary, noting the number of complaints referred to the Ombudsman had decreased compared to previous years, with 12 complaints referred, 8 were investigated and 2 were upheld.

Section 3 of the report provided further information of those complaints upheld, two in total, with sections 4 and 5 setting out how the authority had complied with any recommendations from the LGSCO and any learning it had implemented as a result.

Finally, the report compared how West Lindsey District Council had performed overall nationally and in comparison to 20 other similar local authorities in terms of the number of complaints referred, investigated and upheld by the LGSCO.

The Chairman, in advance of the meeting,  had requested a statement of assurance in regards to the issues identified in the two upheld complaints and the Committee received a submission from Enforcement Team Manager as follows: -

“During the pandemic the planning enforcement service experienced unprecedented demand, which meant that the number of cases open for investigations doubled within a three month period. This in turn had a significant impact upon our ability to progress cases at a formal stage. Within this specific case there were delays in getting the case to the formal notice phase and subsequently in determining how to proceed with formal enforcement. The complainant was kept up-to-date with the Council’s position, just not to an extent that the LGO felt satisfied with and the delays did not affect the overall outcome. The LGO felt that the delays were not acceptable and a formal apology was offered.

During the period of delay the Council took steps to bring an additional temporary resource into the work area to ease the burden and this resource is due to come to an end at the end of December 2022. The overall performance within the service area since then, as per progress and delivery reporting, should give Councillors confidence that these delays are no longer being experienced. The demand within the work area has reduced, however it is still generally at a level that is higher than pre-covid. These demand levels are monitored regularly and a policy review is due at Prosperous Communities Committee in early 2023.

Officer error: (Community Safety Complaint)

The issues relating to Officer error within this report have been addresses through the revised procedure for Community Protection Notices. Each Officer utilising this power will ensure that it is checked by the Senior Officer within the work area and that legal advice is sought to ensure that wording is appropriate and that the overall intention of the notice is realistically enforceable. Legal advice is not sought in all cases,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27