Decision Report 201407198

Summary

Mr C complained that the council unreasonably delayed in issuing the final invoice for works to his home required following the issue of a statutory notice in 2007. The works were carried out in 2008 but it was not until January 2015 that the invoice was issued. Mr C was also concerned that this invoice included works carried out under previous statutory notices he had already paid for.

In responding to his complaint the council confirmed that the invoice for these works was correctly itemised and they explained the works carried out under this, and previous statutory notices.

We considered the evidence provided by both parties. Having done so, we were satisfied that the council had invoiced Mr C for the correct works which were carried out under this statutory notice and that these were distinct from the additional statutory notice work carried out separately. We also noted the steps taken by the council to review each statutory notice case as part of a wider review of their property conservation department. This extensive review carried out by an external agency delayed the issuing of invoices but was carried out in order to ensure that residents were being correctly billed by the council. However, even taking account of the review, we noted that there were significant delays in the council issuing the final invoice and for this reason, we upheld this element of the complaint.