Mrs X complained about issues regarding the kitchen refit that the Council undertook at her home, including delays, the quality of workmanship and the lack of adequate liaison between tradespeople. She complained that she was left without a functioning kitchen for over 20 months.
The Ombudsman found that, although the Council had responded to some of Mrs X’s concerns, there was no single, comprehensive response setting out where it accepted there were shortcomings and where it considered issues to have been the result of factors outside of its control. In order to resolve the complaint, the Council agreed to, within 30 working days, provide Mrs X with a comprehensive written response to the issues she had raised and, where shortcomings were identified, consider what redress was appropriate. The Ombudsman considered this to be an appropriate settlement and did not investigate.