FOUR out of 21 complaints about North Norfolk District Council looked into by the Local Government Ombudsman resulted in compensation being paid and systems being changed.

FOUR out of 21 complaints about North Norfolk District Council looked into by the Local Government Ombudsman resulted in compensation being paid and systems being changed.

Watchdog Jerry White's annual report found there was no evidence of maladministration in five cases, while two were out of his jurisdiction and another 10 were not investigated because he decided the complainants had suffered “no or insufficient injustice.”

The four complaints which resulted in local settlements - remedial action agreed between the council, the Ombudsman and the complainant - were:

- a wrongly-issued building control completion certificate, meaning work did not comply with building control regulations. The council has agreed to pay a third of the cost of remedial work, when it finishes

- a council tax payer's account wrongly showed a debt, and the case was referred to court. Compensation of �25 was paid.

- a complainant running a tourist accommodation business did not receive booking fees and deposits paid by visitors through the council's online booking service. The council paid the business what it was owed plus �50 compensation.

- another complaint related to the same tourism service issue resulted in the council making sure all other businesses were also receiving their due money, and that any money they are owed was refunded.

Mr White however praised the council for its quick response to complaints, which took an average of 25.9 days, well inside the 28-day target, which he said was commendable.

The full annual review report can be seen at www.lgo.org.uk/documents/annualreview/2009/north%20norfolk.pdf