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If you are a journalist wanting to contact North Norfolk District Council for information or comment, please call Peter Battrick, Communications Manager, on 01263 516344. You can also email media@north-norfolk.gov.uk

The team also produces the quarterly Outlook magazine for North Norfolk residents, as well as meeting the council's in-house design and branding business needs.

Quick response to Ombudsman’s inquiries

23 July 2009

The Local Government Ombudsman has praised North Norfolk District Council for its quick response over formal complaints.

In his annual report on complaints against the Council, the Ombudsman, Jerry White, noted that it took the Council an average of 25.9 days to respond to his inquiries — well within the 28-day target. He said: “[the Council’s] performance here is commendable.”

The Ombudsman is an independent ‘watchdog’ who receives and investigates complaints about councils and tries to find ways to put right any failings. In 2008/09, his office received 26 complaints and inquiries about North Norfolk District Council. Of those, four were treated as ‘premature’, and four more were given advice (which usually means making the complaint direct to the Council in the first instance). The other 18 were passed to the investigative team.

The Ombudsman decided on 21 complaints in 2008/09. In five of those cases there was no evidence of maladministration. Another 10 were not investigated because he decided “the complainants had suffered no or insufficient injustice”. Two were outside his jurisdiction.

The remaining four cases were solved with ‘local settlements’ — remedial action agreed between the Council, the Ombudsman and the complainant. These four cases resulted in procedural fixes and compensation being made.

The four complaints were:

  • A building control matter where a completion certificate was wrongly issued and work did not comply with building control regulations. The council has agreed to pay one third of the cost of remedial work, when it finishes.
  • A council tax payer’s account was wrongly showing a debt, and the case was referred to court. Compensation of £25 was paid.
  • A complainant running a tourist accommodation business did not receive booking fees and deposits paid by visitors through the Council’s online booking service. The Council paid the business what it was owed plus £50 compensation.
  • The fourth complaint also related to the same tourism service issue, and has resulted in the Council making sure all other businesses are also receiving their due money, and that any money they are owed is refunded. This work is ongoing.

The Ombudsman’s Annual Review explains how changes in the way his office operates mean direct comparisons cannot be drawn with previous years’ statistics.

The full Annual Review report can be seen at:
www.lgo.org.uk/documents/annualreview/2009/north%20norfolk.pdf


ENDS