North Ayrshire Council’s Trading Standards in the clear over advice given during dispute between resident and builder

North Ayrshire Council’s Trading Standards has been cleared of any wrongdoing in a case centred around a dispute between a resident and a builder.

The organisation was placed in the spotlight by the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) after a complaint was raised against it.

The Ombudsman received a complaint, claiming that Trading Standards did not provide ‘adequate information’ to one person seeking to resolve an issue they had with a builder who carried out work for their relatives.

The complainant was only known as ‘C’ in SPSO papers, which read: “C complained about the advice received and actions taken by trading standards in relation to concerns that they had reported about a builder who had undertaken work for two of their relatives.

“C said that the council did not provide them with adequate information regarding the steps they could take to establish if they had cause to take further action against the builder, and the timescale in which this was required to be done.”

According to the SPSO they found that the council had “reasonably explained” the steps taken in reviewing C’s complaint.

The report goes on: “Whilst we recognised that no information had been given in relation to issues which were time barred, we considered it could not be known until completion of the assessment which matters could be progressed. Therefore, we did not uphold this part of C’s complaint.”

There was an additional complaint surrounding claims trading standards “suggested” the resident obtain an independent report of the work completed at “personal cost” to the individual.

But the SPSO said: “We found that C had sought advice from other sources, and we considered their decision to commission the report had been informed by their wider research and not just on the advice given by trading standards. We also did not find any evidence to support that C had been told that an independent report would be required before their case could be taken to the procurator fiscal. Therefore, we did not uphold this part of C’s complaint.”

The report adds: “C also complained that the council provided them with an inconsistent and inadequate response to their complaints. We found that the response was in keeping with the information shared with C by trading standards. Therefore, we did not uphold this part of C’s complaint.”

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