Overview
The complainant (Mr C) raised concerns that funding for the replacement and upgrade of his central heating was withdrawn by Fife Council without justifiable reasons and that the Council had not handled his complaint according to their complaints procedure.
Specific complaints and conclusions
The complaints which have been investigated are that the Council:
- (a) unjustifiably withdrew their offer to fund the replacement and upgrade of Mr C's central heating system (upheld); and
- (b) failed to handle Mr C's complaint according to their complaints procedure and to adequately respond to Mr C's appeal against their decision to withdraw funding (upheld).
Redress and recommendations
The Ombudsman recommends that the Council:
- (i) should have a process in place to manage situations where it is difficult to come to a mutually suitable arrangement with HELP beneficiaries;
- (ii) should offer to fund the installation, in Mr C's property, of the central heating system suggested to him in their letter of 2 March 2005 and give Mr C a specific timescale to consider whether he wants to go ahead with this proposal;
- (iii) should apologise for their failure to respond to Mr C's suggestions;
- (iv) should remind officers of the importance of responding fully to correspondence received and, additionally, that any response should be addressed to the person who makes the complaint;
- (v) should ensure that all complaints are fully investigated and responded to;
- (vi) should apologise to Mr C for their failure to adequately respond to his appeal, their delay in providing a substantive response to Mr C's complaint under the second stage of their complaints process and their failure to take all circumstances of the complaint into account when carrying out their investigation.
The Council have accepted the recommendations and will act on them accordingly.