Decision Report 201504184

Summary

Mr C complained about the council after waiting over a year for repairs to the front door of his council tenancy. At the time he first approached us the repairs had still not been completed and the council had advised him that this was due to numerous issues regarding door suppliers, two of whom had ceased trading in the last year. The repairs took place during our investigation, 17 months after they were first reported.

In response to our enquiries, the council accepted that the suppliers going out of business did not justify the length of time Mr C had waited for the repairs. They stated that there had also been a number of errors of communication and monitoring on their part, contributing to the delays. As a result of this, they committed to implementing new systems to avoid similar mistakes in future.

On investigation, we found that, whilst some of the delays were outwith the council's control, the majority had been caused by poor administrative handling on their part. We also found that they had failed in some of their duties in relation to the Right to Repair scheme. As such, we upheld the complaint.

Recommendations

We recommended that the council:

• apologise to Mr C for the additional failings identified by our investigation;
• offer Mr C the maximum compensation of £100 available under the Right to Repair scheme; and
• remind relevant staff of the council's responsibilities under the Right to Repair scheme.