Anglesey’s Housing Services is taking steps to improve after a finding of maladministration was made against it.
The Public Services Ombudsman for Wales has found serious shortcomings in the way the County Council dealt with homelessness and housing application from a resident (referred to in the report as Ms A).
The Council is to apologise to Ms A and her family for its failings and offer her a redress payment of £1500.
The maladministration, which occurred during 2004 – 2010 was the result of a number of factors, including human error, lack of recording, high staff turnover, weak procedure notes and absence of a suitable IT system.
A new Housing IT system has already been purchased in order to provide a more efficient service to customers. The Housing Service has also agreed to act on the Ombudsman’s recommendations, by producing up to date written procedures on housing allocations and homelessness and further training for relevant officers has already been delivered.
Commissioner with responsibility for Housing and Social Services, Margaret Foster, stressed, “The County Council wishes to offer its sincere apologies to Ms A for the shortcomings identified. Since these unfortunate events, the Council has agreed to implement a new system to track housing applications and is working hard to ensure the service deals with its customers in a more responsive way.”
