Mr H complained that Bridgend County Borough Council failed to issue a response to his complaint, which was originally made to it in March 2023.
The Ombudsman found that the Council issued its Stage 1 response in May 2023 and despite Mr H responding to advise that he disputed the outcome, it failed to escalate his complaint to Stage 2. She said this caused additional frustration and uncertainty to Mr H. She decided to settle the complaint without an investigation.
The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement to apologise to Mr H for failing to escalate his complaint, log and formally investigate a Stage 2 investigation and issue its response within3 weeks. Issue a time and trouble payment of £50 in recognition of its failure to escalate the issue to Stage 2.