LGO Individual Decisions

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint the Council disposed of property from his home. It is unlikely we would find fault and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

Summary: The Council was at fault for not putting in place all the provision listed in a child’s Education, Health and Care Plan following a decision from the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal. This caused injustice as the child missed out on provision they should have received. To remedy the injustice caused the Council agreed to apologise, make financial payments and put in place the remaining provision.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s involvement in Mr X’s children’s case. It is not separable from matters that are being considered in court.

Summary: Mrs X complained about how the Council considers school transport applications for children in her village. We do not find fault with how the Council assesses these applications or how it responded to Mrs X’s application and appeals.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about delay in the annual review of an Education, Health and Care Plan. This is because the Council has offered a suitable remedy. Further consideration of the complaint would not achieve anything more and so an investigation is not warranted.

Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her son’s education. This is because it is reasonable for Miss X to use her right of appeal.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a complaint about the conduct of a councillor. This is because we are unlikely to find fault.

Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about how the Council completed an education health and care needs assessment, or its failure to provide alternative education. The complainant has appealed to the Tribunal therefore we have no jurisdiction to investigate. The Council has agreed to remedy the delay in issuing the final Education Health and Care Plan. Further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

Summary: Miss X complained about the way the Council dealt with support for children in her care. The Council was at fault delaying the completion of the stage two investigation of the statutory children’s complaints procedure. The Council will apologise for this.

Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about delays in a coronial process, or the actions of a coroner’s officer, because they are not an administrative function of the Council. Nor will we consider the suitability of a remedy the Council offered Miss X, because it is not a good use of our time to consider complaints about complaint procedures where we are not looking at the substantive issues.

Summary: Mr X complained about how the Council considers school transport applications for children in his village, and how it considered his extenuating circumstances. We do not find fault with how the Council assesses these applications or how it responded to Mr X’s application and appeals.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council allegedly failing to correct a spelling error on Miss X’s birth certificate when it took her into care. This matter is late, and there is no good reason to exercise discretion to consider it now. There is not enough potential injustice from the alleged recent comment by a Council officer to warrant our further involvement.

Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s refusal to issue an Education Health and Care Plan for Y as Mr X has appealed that decision. We will not investigate the Council’s decision that it did not have a duty to provide alternative education because there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her child’s special educational needs. She says the Council failed to support her child, missed legal deadlines, and completed a poor reassessment. This is because it is out of the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction as she has used her right of appeal. Even if we had jurisdiction to investigate, we would not investigate as it would not lead to any further outcomes.

Summary: Miss C complained the Council failed to take action when she reported illegal parking. Miss C says this has caused safety issues on the street which has caused her distress. We find the Council at fault for failing to take timely action to repaint the double yellow lines in the area and for failing to acknowledge Miss C’s correspondence as a complaint. The Council will apologise and make a symbolic payment of £100.

Summary: We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about missed education provision and the Council’s consideration of an Education, Health, and Care Plan for his child. The law does not allow us to investigate, because Mr X has used his right of appeal, and these are matters which were linked to his appeal.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about delays in the Education, Health and Care Plan process. This is because it is unlikely an investigation would lead to a different outcome. Mr X has now appealed to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability). This places the content of the Education, Health and Care Plan and any ongoing provision outside our jurisdiction.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council has failed to adequately respond to the complainant’s concerns about parking outside his home. This is mainly because there is not enough evidence of fault, other bodies are better placed to consider some of the issues being raised, and the Council has apologised for the delay in the complaint process.

Summary: There was a three-month delay issuing Y’s final Education Health and Care Plan after the Council conceded Ms X’s appeal. The Council has already offered a symbolic payment to reflect the avoidable frustration and time and trouble: this is a partial remedy. The Council will issue a further apology and make an additional payment of £1350 to reflect the loss of a term and a half of special educational provision.

Summary: Mr X complained about how the Council administers school transport applications for children in his village. We do not find fault with how the Council assesses these applications. We find the Council at fault for delays in considering Mr X’s appeal, but we find the Council has already taken sufficient action to address this.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a child’s education provision. This is because, there is either no evidence of fault, further investigation would not lead to a different outcome or because the complaint had a right of appeal to a tribunal that it was reasonable for them to have used.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s relaying of a pavement by his house. This is because the Council was entitled to relay the pavement to meet its obligations under the Highways Act 1980 and if Mr X suffers damage to his property in the future it would be reasonable for him to make a claim against it at court.

Summary: We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about alternative provision and the Council’s decision to refuse a personal budget. It was appropriate for Mr X to appeal to the tribunal if he disagreed with the type of placement specified in the Education Health and Care plan.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a road. There is not currently significant enough injustice to warrant investigation. Mr X could reasonably take court action in future if he were to believe road vibration was damaging his property. He could also reasonably take court action if he believes the road’s condition is unsafe. It is also unlikely we could achieve more than the Council is already doing.

Summary: Mrs X complained about the Council’s delay in issuing a final Education, Health and Care Plan for her son. We have found fault causing an injustice. The Council has agreed to the recommended ways to remedy this. Therefore, we have completed our investigation and are closing the complaint.