LGO Individual Decisions

Summary: Mrs X complained about the Council’s handling of her child Y’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan since 2023 including annual review delays and a failure to pay the personal budget. The Council was at fault. It failed to carry out annual reviews between August 2023 and July 2024 and then delayed issuing an amended Plan prior to Y’s transition to post-16 education. It also failed to review and pay Y’s personal budget which meant Mrs X was unable to arrange therapy provision between September 2023 and July 2024. The Council agreed to apologise to Mrs X and Y and make payments to ackn

Summary: Ms X complains the Council failed to provide educational provision to her child, as outlined in his Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. The Council is at fault for failing to arrange a suitable education when the school said it was unable to meet the child’s needs and the Council has failed to follow statutory timeframes when finalising the child’s EHC Plan following a reassessment of needs. The Council has also failed to provide Ms X a backdated personal budget. The Council has agreed to provide a suitable remedy for the injustice caused.

Summary: Mr B complained the Council has repeatedly left his bins blocking access to his driveway after collections, despite assuring him this would be resolved. The Council was at fault. It continued to leave Mr B’s bins blocking his driveway, after agreeing to leave them elsewhere. It also demonstrated poor record-keeping by not evidencing how and when it monitored his collections and carried out site visits. Because of the fault, Mr B could not safely access his driveway on several occasions; he suffered frustration and uncertainty; and it meant he continued to contact the Council to report

Summary: We cannot investigate Ms M’s complaint about her son Y’s education because she has appealed to the SEND Tribunal and the Tribunal will decide what arrangements the Council must make for his education. We cannot investigate a complaint when someone has appealed to the Tribunal about the same matter.

Summary: It is too late to investigate Ms M’s complaint about the education, health and care (EHC) plan the Council issued for her daughter’s transition to secondary school.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Councils poor communication about his dropped kerb application. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council did not make the required arrangements for his child’s exams. This is

Summary: Miss X complained about the way the Council dealt with her son’s care. The Council was at fault for delaying in completing the statutory complaint procedure and failing to provide a suitable remedy for the faults identified through the statutory complaint procedure. This caused Miss X distress and frustration. The Council will apologise, make a payment and send us evidence of completed service improvements.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about an unsuccessful appeal for a school place. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the panel for us to be able to question its decision.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s involvement in assessing Ms X’s care needs. There is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council, and the Information Commissioner is best placed to consider complaints about data protection.

Summary: Ms X complained the Council failed to provide her child with suitable fulltime education and special educational provision, and complained about faults in reviewing the Education, Health and Care Plan. There was fault causing injustice. Ms X’s child missed out on education and Ms X and her child suffered distress and inconvenience. The Council has agreed to apologise, improve communication with Ms X about next steps, make symbolic payments and carry out service improvements. The complaint is upheld.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Council tax liability and Council tax support because there is a right of appeal to a Valuation Tribunal.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s treatment of a supported living provider. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

Summary: There was no fault in the Council’s handling of a situation where a child was missing education. It took appropriate steps to make arrangements for alternative provision. We have therefore completed our investigation.

Summary: We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about the alleged bias of the Council in failing to protect his child from harm and accepting allegations made by his ex-partner. There has been court action during which the matters complained either were or could reasonably have been raised. The investigation by us of such matters in prevented by a legal bar that applies permanently from the first contact of any party with the court.

Summary: We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint about her property’s council tax band. This is because we cannot investigate the actions of the Valuation Office Agency.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of a housing application. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an application.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint that the Council has refused to move a street name sign which is in the wrong position. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

Summary: Ms X complained about the Councils handling of her complaints about noise and dog mess from a neighbouring property. Ms X says the matter caused her distress and affected her health. We have not found any fault in the Council’s actions.

Summary: Mr X complained the Council’s waste collections are unreliable, there is poor communication between departments, and it ignored his freedom of information request. Mr X said he had to go to the tip because his waste was not collected. He said it caused stress and anxiety, and there are now issues with rats and fruit flies. We find the Council at fault and this caused injustice. The Council will apologise and make a payment to Mr X.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the ventilation at a leisure facility. The Council has carried out an inspection and maintenance work in response to the complaint. Therefore, further investigation by us would not lead to a different outcome. In any case, we cannot achieve the outcome Ms X wants.

Summary: Miss X complained that the Council failed to provide education to her son while he was out of school. We have found that the Council was at fault, because it failed to deliver home tuition to Miss X’s son for at least part of 2023. This meant he lost education, and he and Miss X likely suffered distress. The Council has agreed to make symbolic payments to recognise their injustice, and it will take steps to improve its service.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint that his car was damaged by a road defect. This is because it is reasonable for Mr B to pursue his compensation claim by taking the Council to court.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about congestion in a car park. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint that the Council approved an application to convert a property she owns without her permission. This is because the injustice she claims stems from the actions of the person who made the application and caused damage to her property and we could not hold the Council responsible for this.