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Case ref:201406853
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Date:August 2015
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Body:North Ayrshire Council
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Sector:Local Government
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Outcome:Not upheld, recommendations
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Subject:complaints handling
Summary
Ms C shared a private driveway with two rented properties. When she experienced problems with access because of the way the tenants parked their cars, she found that there was no landlord registration. She wrote to the council about her concerns. She said the council were not doing enough to address the issues she had raised. She then experienced further problems when a blocked drain at the rented property caused an overflow of sewage onto her driveway and she contacted the council about this matter too. After lengthy and detailed correspondence with the council about her dissatisfaction, the council referred her to our office.
Our investigation considered all the correspondence between Ms C and the council, the council's records of contact with her, and the actions they took, as well as the relevant legislation. We found that the council had reasonably responded and addressed the matters she raised. However, we also noted that it was not always clear how the council were dealing with her complaints in terms of their complaints handling procedure, and we recommended that the council address this aspect.
Recommendations
We recommended that the council:
- take steps to ensure complaints are accurately identified from the outset and complaints handling procedures are clearly communicated.