LGO Individual Decisions

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s escalation of a Penalty Charge Notice. This is because Ms X has already received a remedy for part of the issue through the courts and it is unlikely we could achieve significantly more.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s delay in awarding a council tax reduction. This is because the Council has taken satisfactory action.

Summary: The Council offered Miss B unsuitable accommodation and did not fully take into account her disability, nor act quickly enough when she did not feel safe at her interim accommodation. This meant that Miss B spent time in inaccessible accommodation, and was left distressed, uncertain, and frustrated. The Council will apologise to Miss B, make a payment to her, and review how it records information about accessible interim accommodation.

Summary: Mr X complained the Council failed to act properly when it assessed noise coming from a sports club close to his home. We find the Council to be at fault. The Council did not properly consider Mr X’s complaint. It failed to make a proper assessment of the noise. It should re-assess the noise and take the appropriate action, should a statutory nuisance be found.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of Mrs X’s housing application because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant our involvement.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to remove an annual carers personal budget it paid to Mrs B and replace it with a weekly personal budget. Any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

Summary: Mrs X complained the Council removed her son’s, Y’s, short-term targets from the Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan after these were agreed at the 2023 annual review. I have ended this investigation as there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about a penalty charge notice. This is because Miss X has used her right of appeal against the penalty charge notice. The Council has also paid a partial refund to Miss X to recognise the incorrect information it gave to her.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint about how the Council is spending public money. This is because the alleged fault has not caused Mr B a personal injustice.

Summary: Ms X complained that the Council did not put in place all the special educational provision in her child’s Education, Health and Care Plan. We have found the Council was at fault for delaying putting in place the special educational provision. This meant Ms X’s child has not received the support they should have. To remedy the injustice caused the Council agreed to apologise, make a payment to Ms X and carry out a service improvement.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about damage to a property because it is reasonable to expect Mr Y to go to court about the matter. Also, the court, along with insurers, are better placed to consider this complaint.

Summary: We cannot investigate Mr B’s complaint that the Council left his garden in a hazardous condition after it did maintenance work to a property it owns. 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 Mr X’s complaint that the Council asked him to provide identification to progress a complaint he made in 2022. This is because the complaint is made late and I see no good reason to consider it now.

Summary: We cannot investigate Mr C’s complaint that the Council has failed to repair structural defects at a property it owns. This is because we cannot investigate complaints about the management of social housing by a council acting as a social landlord.

Summary: Mr B complained about the process followed by the Council when it gave planning permission for a house behind a listed terrace where he lives. We upheld the complaint, finding the Council’s planning committee did not follow its published procedure after it initially refused to support the planning application. We also found the Council at fault for delay in answering Mr B’s complaint. We considered these faults caused injustice, although we could not say the outcome of the planning application would have been different. The Council has accepted these findings and at the end of this st

Summary: Mr X complained that the Council incorrectly issued a council tax refund to Mrs Y when she requested this after Mrs Y moved out of their shared property. The Council issued the refund in line with the relevant law and policies without fault.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about fees for adult social care. The complainant can take the matter to court.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council held an incorrect address for Mrs Y between 2015 and 2018. This complaint is late and there are no good reasons for us to exercise discretion. We will not investigate the Council’s complaint handling alone as there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council failing to refund two penalty charge notices and sending his personal information to an old address.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint about the Council charging for overdue library books when he did not receive the usual email reminder. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation. And, Mr B has not suffered a serious or significant injustice which would justify an investigation.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about highway repair and maintenance because the court is better placed to consider the issues raised.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council failed to collect his household waste in December 2024. This is because the Council already apologised and an investigation by the Ombudsman is unlikely to achieve any additional outcome.

Summary: Miss X complains the Council has delayed implementing the recommendations of a previous Ombudsman’s investigation. The Council delayed implementing recommendations of a previous Ombudsman investigation. Miss X suffered delay and uncertainty. The Council says it will pay Miss X a further £250, provide guidance to staff and review its processes. This is an appropriate remedy.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about missed recycling collections. The Council has apologised to the complainant and taken steps to improve the service. We consider further investigation will not lead to a different outcome.

Summary: Miss Y complained that delays in the Education, Health and Care (EHC) assessment and planning process meant that her son did not receive the education he was entitled to. The delays were, in part, caused by a shortage of Educational Psychologists. The Council has agreed to pay £400 to Miss Y in recognition of the delay and a further £900 for D’s benefit. The Council will also arrange the proposed catch-up provision and explain the steps it is taking to improve the timeliness of EHC needs assessments.