Councils have been urged to respond positively to complaints and reassure complainants it will not adversely affect the level of service they receive in the future, by the ombudsman.
The Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) has issued the warning after Tameside MBC failed to implement a number of recommendations it made in a previous report.
The LGO had investigated a complaint that the council had reduced its contribution to the fees it was paying for the care of an elderly woman. It ruled that the council had made changes to the woman’s care contract without assessing her care needs or completing a risk assessment, and failed to complete a financial assessment with the family.
The ombudsman has told the council to reimburse the family with the full amount of third-party top-ups, and pay the family compensation.
Dr Jane Martin, Local Government Ombudsman, said: ‘Our recent research report, My Expectations, also showed that an integral part of an effective complaints procedure is to provide reassurance that making a complaint will not adversely affect future services people receive.
‘In this case it is concerning that the individual who made the complaint has still not received a suitable remedy while others have. I hope that the council will reflect on this and provide the remedy that I have recommended.’
