Dear Mr. Boden-Ryan,
I write in respect of your Stage 2 complaint investigation.
Please be advised that I have investigated your complaint as a Stage 2 investigation in line with the Authority’s complaints policy. I would emphasise that the purpose of the Authority’s Complaints Procedure is to assess whether or not Officers have failed to take appropriate actions or not followed relevant procedures in carrying out their functions and, if that is shown to be the case, to remedy the same where is it practical to do so. Moreover, the Complaints Procedure is not intended to act as, nor does it in practice operate as, an appeals process in respect to decisions which have been made by the Authority acting in its capacity.
As part of my investigation, I have held discussions with relevant officers and reviewed relevant documentation and correspondence on the matter including your Stage 1 complaint and response email. I have referred back to your request and subsequent responses in June/July 2023 and details of the internal review provided to you on 5th September 2023.
My outcome findings are provided below:
I note the Stage 1 complaint response to you from the Engineering Service and I note the apology concerning the information provided to you and the confirmation that NPT did commission the Coal Authority to undertake ten tip inspections in 2017, but none of them were associated with the Godre’r Graig area.
Your initial request for information in June 2023 regarding this specific question asked ‘In 2017 NPTCBC decided to bring all spoil tip inspection back in house following a review. Please provide a copy of that review and all correspondence relating to the decision to bring that work in house’
The response to you in July 2023 stated: ‘There was no decision or review to bring the inspections back in house. Following a verbal query from our Planning Section it became apparent that there had been a misconception that the Inspections of disused tips had transferred to Carmarthenshire. Following the realisation that they hadn’t the Engineering Section started work on setting up the current disused tips monitoring’.
I am of the view that this specific question was responded to satisfactorily.
With regards to your follow up question at the time : ‘Thank you, Is the authority stating they have never undertaken any inspection of spoil tip sites between 1969 – 2017? ,
The response provided to you advised the following ‘ Further to your query, officers have confirmed that they hold no information relating to the inspection of spoil tip sites between 1969-2017’ – The response to you at the time also provided clarification regarding 1969 -2015 information.
Having reviewed the Stage 1 complaint response to you from the Service area dated 18th September 2025 and following discussions with officers, I have clarified that the response provided to you at the time (2023) only included a response for the period 1969 up to 2017 and not inclusive of 2017. The recent Stage 1 complaint response to you did not provide sufficient clarity on this matter.
I am of the view that that there was a misinterpretation of this specific question by the service at the time (in 2023) (i.e.’ Thank you, Is the authority stating they have never undertaken any inspection of spoil tip sites between 1969 – 2017?’) and the response should have confirmed what information the Council holds inclusive of 2017. I therefore uphold your complaint.
As part of the internal review process in 2023, officers liaised with the relevant sections within the Environment and Regeneration Directorate to gather responses to the questions, given that there had not been a response provided to your initial request and the information presented reflected the views provided to them through those engagements. However, it only became apparent—through your more recent follow-up emails submitted as part of your Stage 1 and Stage 2 complaint—that the original response did not sufficiently address the specific point you had raised by the section of the Environment and Regeneration Directorate that held the information. While the internal review was based on the information provided to the internal review officers at the time, it is now clear that it did not address all the salient points you required clarity on.
Officers would like to offer their sincere apologies regarding this specific matter that you have raised.
If you are unhappy with this response to your complaint, you have the right to contact either the Information Commissioners Office or the Public Service
Ombudsman for Wales. Both the Information Commissioners Office and the Ombudsman can accept complaints through her website using the online complaint form, in writing, or over the phone. The contact details are:
Information Commissioner:
Phone: 0303 123 1113
Address:Information Commissioner’s Office Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Website: www.ico.org.uk
Ombudsman:
Phone: 0300 790 0203
Online complaint form: https://complaints.ombudsman.wales/en/pre-complaint Address: Public Services Ombudsman for Wales, 1 Ffordd yr Hen Gae, Pencoed, CF35 5LJ
Website: www.ombudsman.wales
Yours sincerely,
Shaun Davies
Complaints and Performance Management Officer
