On Thu, 8 May 2008 15:36:51 +0100, Les Invalides wrote:
>David Jones posted
>>Well, the EHO phoned me today and the first thing he did was apologise
>>becauses apparently there was a mistake by the admin staff and they put
>>my letter, along with the letter to my neighbour, in the same envelope
>>addressed to him.
>>
>>So, obviously my identity is known to him now. The EHO said he's spoken
>>to him and he seems quite reasonable and has promised to try and keep
>>the noise down but I'm still concerned that he knows that I've
>>complained about him.
>>
>>Any advice on how I should proceed with complaining about this?
>
>It's hard to know where to start, really. The person who made such a
>stupid and potentially dangerous mistake should certainly be dismissed
>for gross misconduct - she has at the very least committed a serious
>breach of the Data Protection Act, as well as of her civil duty of
>confidentiality to you. But getting her sacked wouldn't actually help
>you much, I suppose. There is no practical restitution they can make
>either - it's done now. I suppose you could ask for money. After all,
>you are paying them enough.
>
>The council will probably have a customer relations department to whom
>you can write and ask for financial redress. They will certainly fob you
>off. After that, it's the Local Government Ombudsman.
I don't think I'd explicitly ask for anyone to be sacked, as it was a
mistake, but I certainly think I need to complain to make sure they deal
with it seriously and then it's up to them to decide whether that person
should lose their job or not.
Regarding financial redress, I tend to think that's the only penalty
that makes them take anything seriously. It's easy for them to apologise
profusely, but that's just words and I never feel they're sincere, more
just an attempt to placate the complainant and avoid further
repercussions.
However, I believe that I'd have to tell them how much I think they
should give me to make up for their mistake and I find it impossible to
think what figure would be reasonable. If I just write to them stating
that I think I should be compensated but without specifying a figure and
then they offer me something, what would be reasonable and what would be
insulting and be cause to progress my complaint to the Ombudsman? |