Mr Dawson Date: 1 August 2016
Greens Place Our Ref: CX/253539
South Shields Your Ref: left blank – The letter to the CEO was about 248789
Tyne and Wear NE33 2AQ
Dear Mr Dawson
Thank you for your letter to Martin Swales, Chief Executive dated 8 July 2016, requesting matters related to your previous complaint to be raised as a new complaint, I manage the process and staff that support customer complaints and compliments. Your letter has therefore been forwarded to me to consider and respond.
Having considered the contents of your letter and the final decision by the Local Government Ombudsman, I am now in a position to respond.
There is no evidence to suggest that there has been deliberate misinformation provided by Council officers to the Local Government Ombudsman.
Notice the word ‘deliberate’. Misinformation is deliberate by definition.
The rest of Corporate Lead’s reply on behalf of the Chief Executive appears to be designed to support the initial denial that there was any misrepresentation.
In my letter to Mr Swales I refer to paragraph 34 of the LGO’s report:
“I have seen the 1996 plans. On plan 1/B the applicant has written the proposed elevations at the inland end as 12.5 metres plus 3 metres. Mr Dawson says the Council should not have taken the applicant’s word for this. ”
Plan 1/B was drawn in 1997 and contains drafting errors. It was sent to the LGO Inspector by a Senior Planning Officer of South Tyneside Council.
“Having considered the contents of your letter . . .” she has ignored what the contents say else she could not have, in all honesty, have said:
“There is no evidence to suggest that there has been deliberate misinformation provided by Council officers to the Local Government Ombudsman.”
My letter was about the conduct of the Council and the way they have handled my complaint and she has conflated the two.