LGO Individual Decisions

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council responded to a safeguarding referral. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of his complaint about noise disturbance. There is insufficient evidence of fault in its statutory nuisance decision. The Council has offered Mr X a suitable remedy for delay and poor communication. An investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council's management of Mr X’s council tax account as it is unlikely we will find that Mr X was caused a significant injustice from any Council fault.

Summary: Mr X and Mrs Y complain about poor care provided to their late relative, Mrs Z, in a Council funded Care Home. We will not investigate. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. Further investigation is unlikely to achieve a worthwhile outcome or lead to a different outcome.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of a Children’s Services complaint through its statutory procedures. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council, it is not our role to reinvestigate the underlying matters as the complainant might want, and we could not connect the claimed injustice from any criminal acts with the Council’s complaints procedures. So the matter does not warrant us investigating.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision on a code of conduct complaint about a councillor. There is insufficient evidence of fault or injustice to warrant an investigation.

Summary: We will not investigate the complaint about pothole damage as it is a matter for the courts. We will not investigate the complaint about the Council's use of its unreasonable behaviour policy as there is not enough evidence of fault to justify our further involvement.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about adult safeguarding. There is not enough evidence of fault in the process the Council followed to decide not to start a safeguarding enquiry. So, we cannot question or criticise it even though the complainant disagrees. It is unlikely we would add to the Council’s complaint investigation or reach a different outcome.

Summary: Mrs Y complains about the Council’s decision to implement Child Protection plans for two of her children last year. She says the Council based its decision on false information and malicious allegations and professionals breached her data. The Council upheld some parts of Mrs Y’s complaint due to administrative errors. There is no evidence of procedural fault by the Council which calls into question the decisions it made.

Summary: Mr D complained the Council delayed investigating an alleged noise and light nuisance. Based on current evidence I have found the Council delayed investigating the case which meant Mr D had to wait longer than is reasonable for his case to progress. The Council will explain to the Ombudsman the actions taken to prevent a similar fault occurring.

Summary: There is no fault in the way the Council conducted a safeguarding investigation into concerns raised about the safety and wellbeing of Mr Y in a residential care home.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about local parking difficulties. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an investigation.

Summary: Ms D complained about the Council’s investigation of noise from a neighbouring house. We partially upheld the complaint, finding the Council did not record telling Ms D when it closed its investigation nor answer emails she sent later. This caused her avoidable and unnecessary distress. The Council has accepted these findings. At the end of this statement we set out action it has agreed to remedy that injustice and to improve its service to prevent a repeat.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council considered a report of a wrongly installed wood burning stove. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council sufficient to warrant an investigation

Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about how the Council treated Mrs X when she sought to complain about a safeguarding matter. A legal bar prevents us investigating the substantive matter underlying the complaint, and a court ruling prevents us investigating how the Council dealt with Mrs X’s complaint about it.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council has dealt with the care arrangements of Mrs X’s children. This is because we could not add to the investigation carried out by the Council, or achieve the outcome she seeks.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a possible breach of planning control and a request to make a Tree Preservation Order. This is because we are unlikely to find fault and the complainant has not suffered any significant injustice.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a right of way because any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

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

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s failure to maintain one of its green spaces. This is because the courts are better placed to consider his complaint and we could not achieve the outcome he wants.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about rights of way because any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

Summary: Ms X complains the Council did not properly safeguard her and her children. Ms X says the Council failed to recognise the impact of this, despite her complaints being upheld by the statutory complaints process. The Ombudsman finds fault with the Council for its actions during the statutory complaints process. The Council has agreed to pay a financial remedy and carry out service improvements.

Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint that the Council failed to carry out the actions decided at a meeting in April 2023. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.

Summary: Miss X complained the Council failed to arrange contact with her grandchildren and respond to her queries on the matter. The Council was at fault which caused Miss X upset and uncertainty and meant she missed out on contact with her grandchildren. The Council has agreed to apologise, put measures in place to ensure she has contact going forward and make a payment to Miss X.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint alleging Council officers breached the Employee Code of Conduct, and the Council covered up wrongdoing. We cannot consider the actions of a third- party Forum as this is not an administrative function of the Council. We have seen no evidence of fault in the way the Council decided not to investigate the complaint about its Officers.