LGO Individual Decisions

Summary: Mrs X complained about rubbish being dumped outside her property resulting in other people’s rubbish in her garden, and access from her garden being blocked. We find the Council at fault for failing to take adequate action, causing Mrs X ongoing inconvenience and distress. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to Mrs X.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a ‘right to buy’ application. Miss X no longer faces the risk of losing her home. It is reasonable to expect Miss X to use her right to take court action on any continuing dispute about buying her home.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of his homeless application. He says the Council has not provided them with a suitable property and that it refused to buy their current property from their landlord. This is because the potential fault has not caused any significant injustice. In addition, there is insufficient evidence of fault, and it was reasonable for Mr X to have requested the Council complete a review.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision not to prune or remove trees close to the complainant’s home. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a Fixed Penalty Notice for littering. There is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s actions, and insufficient evidence any fault caused Mr X’s injustice.

Summary: We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council has told him he must remove the balcony from his flat. This is because the Council owns the freehold of the property and the complaint concerns its management of the property, which he owns on a long lease. Such actions are not within our jurisdiction to investigate.

Summary: Miss X complained the Council failed to resolve repeated repair issues with her temporary accommodation, making the property unsuitable to live in. The Council failed to assess the suitability of Miss X’s accommodation and failed to act on repeated reports of disrepair. This caused Miss X and her family frustration and distress. The Council will apologise, make a payment to Miss X and review its processes for responding to reports of disrepair with its temporary accommodation.

Summary: Ms X complains about the Council’s handling of her homelessness application, failure to record information correctly on her personal housing plan, failure to offer her interim accommodation and failure to consider medical information in reaching its decision about her priority need. We do not find fault in the steps taken by the Council in managing Ms X’s application and therefore cannot question the merits of its decision.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s waste collection policy. This is because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council sufficient to warrant an investigation.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council charging him for a bulky waste collection. This is because there is no sign of fault by the Council.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to collect a bulky waste collection. We are satisfied with the Council’s proposed actions to resolve the complaint. Further investigation is unlikely to lead to a different outcome.

growing behind the complainant’s home. There is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s decision-making process to justify an investigation

Summary: Miss X complained the Council failed to collect bulky waste items from her property causing her neighbours to complain and fly-tipping in the area. Arranged collections were missed twice and the items were left outside for approximately six months. This is fault. A suitable remedy is agreed.

Summary: Mrs X complained the Council repeatedly failed to collect her bagged household refuse which caused her frustration and inconvenience. We have found fault by the Council but consider the agreed action of an apology and symbolic payment provides a suitable remedy.

Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of construction work to one of its properties. This is because we cannot investigate complaints about the management of social housing by a council acting as a social landlord.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about rubbish dumped at the rear of Mr X’s property which caused damage to his fence. This is because Mr X has a legal remedy against the Council which places the complaint outside our jurisdiction.

Summary: Mr X says the Council failed to collect his bins on several occasions. He says this caused him inconvenience as he had a build-up of rubbish. We have found fault in the Councils actions for failing to collect Mr X’s bins and recommend it apologises and pays a financial payment to Mr X.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council refusing to give Mr X extra bin capacity. The law prevents us investigating the Council’s policy. The evidence suggests the Council properly reached its decision in Mr X’s case. It would be disproportionate to consider the Council’s communications and complaint-handling in isolation.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council not taking sufficient action regarding a resident who does not present their rubbish correctly. This is because there is insufficient evidence of injustice.

Summary: Mrs C complained the Council failed to provide the correct medical priority to her housing application which has impacted her son’s health. We have found no fault by the Council.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about comments made by a Councillor about the Council’s new waste collection service. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council or that Mr B has suffered a significant personal injustice. We also cannot achieve the outcome Mr B wants.

Summary: A woman complained that the Council has unreasonably decided it has no duty to house her as she is intentionally homeless. But we will not investigate this matter because the woman has a right of appeal to the county court she can use if she wishes to challenge the Council’s decision. In addition, it is very unlikely we could achieve the outcome she is seeking in that respect.

Summary: Mr X complained the Council has failed to suitability investigate a noise nuisance complaint about private-contracted bin collections since June 2021. We found fault with the Council failing to complete a suitable noise nuisance investigation. The Council agreed to our recommendations to produce a plan of action for completing a noise nuisance investigation into Mr X’s complaint and reviews the action it has taken in line with its enforcement policy. The Council also agreed to apologise to Mr X and pay him £300 for the stress and inconvenience the Council’s lack of action has caused h

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint the Council was negligent in handling his council tax account, failed to help him remove his property from the council tax list, and wrongly obtained a bankruptcy order against him for a council tax debt causing significant financial loss. Mr X has or had a legal remedy at court which it is reasonable for him to use. He complains late outside the permitted period of 12 months.

Summary: Mr X complained about how the Council dealt with his homelessness application between August and October 2021. He says the Council’s poor service led to a hospital admission and has had an enduring impact on his mental health. The Council was at fault. It did not do enough to help prevent Mr X’s homelessness. The Council will apologise to Mr X, pay him £200 to acknowledge the distress and uncertainty caused and review its procedures.