Response to gripes takes council too long

Complaints to the Ombudsman are taking Oldham Council too long to deal with.

Despite looking into fewer complaints than three years ago, the authority’s average time to respond to first inquiries has risen from 28 days to 42 days.

And Local Government Ombudsman Anne Seex says around two thirds of metropolitan councils like Oldham manage to respond in 28 days on average.

She added: “I am hopeful that Oldham may be among them next year.”

In her annual letter to the council, Mrs Seex, whose job is to look into complaints against the council to check if there has been unfairness or maladministration, said there were 69 complaints last year, a similar number to the previous two years.

Most were about housing, followed by planning and highways.

But almost half were premature because the council had not had chance to deal with them, eight were outside her remit, and no maladministration was found in 18 cases.

And some complaints can be settled without the Ombudsman giving a ruling — called local settlements.

Last year in Oldham, seven complaints were settled locally and payments totalling £3,787 were made to four people who complained.

In one case, a £1,500 payment was made after the council placed children with their grandparents, after their parents’ relationship broke down.

But it failed to provide proper planning, assessment or support, and a delay in dealing with the complaint.

In another case, £1,387 was awarded because a parish centre was wrongly charged for waste collection. Some cases are decided by Mrs Seex, such as the complaint about the way Delph Library was closed.

Last year her report recommended paying £750 to Delph Community Association after she found that the council had failed to consult residents and users.

Paul Entwistle, Oldham Council’s assistant director for legal and administrative services, said: “In the last year there were two complex cases that overran significantly. This led to an increase in the average time it took the council to respond to residents complaints.

“All complaints are now reported to me on a monthly basis and monitored via our computerised case management system.”