Catalogue of council blunders
A government report has revealed a series of blunders by Norfolk councils, including a family being wrongly evicted and someone's ashes being lost.
The report from the Local Government Ombudsman, which investigates complaints from the public, found thousands of pounds were paid out in compensation to tenants.
There were 27 complaints about Norwich City Council during both 2005/06 and 2006/07. The authority handed out £15,983 in compensation, more than any of its neighbouring councils. In one case it awarded £13,000 to a family who were wrongly evicted.
A city council spokesman said: "We strive to offer our customers the highest level of service. We are delighted we have once again had no cases of maladministration against us."
Great Yarmouth Borough Council, whose complaints increased from 29 to 46, had to refund crematorium fees after a complainant claimed it had lost her mother's ashes.
A spokesman for the council's bereavement services said: "The ashes were kept in a secure area which is locked, but when we went to get them and issue them to the family they were missing.
"We now have CCTV in the area where the ashes are kept and stringent security. We have had 57,500 cremations and never had this happen before."
In North Norfolk, complaints rose from 26 last year to 50, but council bosses said there had been several complaints about one issue. The authority was ordered to pay more than £400 after mistakenly telling someone they did not need planning permission to build a garage.
South Norfolk Council saw its complaints rise from 12 to 20, but problems with planning applications accounted for 16 of these. Complaints made to Broadland District Council's complaints increased from 17 to 22. Figures were not available for how many of the complaints were upheld or thrown out.
Source: Norwich Evening News (20/07/2007)
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