Issue - meetings

To present to Cabinet a recent Local Government Ombudsman decision.

Cabinet noted the report.

Cabinet was made aware that the Constitution (Article 12.03(a)) required the Monitoring Officer to report to Council, or to Cabinet for executive functions, if any decision or omission had given rise to maladministration. The Ombudsman had recently found that the Council was at fault in relation to the way in which it had dealt with a Disabled Facilities Grant application. The Ombudsman had made two recommendations in her decision which included sharing lessons learnt with the service and making a compensation payment, which the Ombudsman suggested should be withheld until the outcome of an appeal, recently granted to the complainant, was known.  The recommendations of the Ombudsman had been accepted and no further action would be taken by the Ombudsman in this matter.

Cabinet noted the report.