Other Benefits : Caerphilly County Borough Council

Ms X complained that the Council had failed to respond to her complaint despite a referral from the Ombudsman to do so.

In making enquiries with the Council the Ombudsman was informed that the email referring the matter had appeared in its junk email inbox and therefore the complaints officer had not been aware of it. The Ombudsman was concerned that Ms X had not received a response to her complaint and was clearly inconvenienced and as an alternative to an investigation, asked the Council to agree to the following in settlement of the complaint.

By4 July 2022

a) Provide Ms X with an apology and explanation for the delay in responding to her complaint

b) Provide Ms X with a stage two response

c) The Council should ensure that the Public Services Ombudsman(Wales) emails are no longer filtered, and junk folders are checked daily