LGO Individual Decisions

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to charge his mother, Ms Y, for the care it provided to her. This is because the complaint is late and there are no good reasons why Mr X did not complain sooner. Furthermore, it is unlikely we would find sufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

Summary: We have upheld Ms X’s complaint about delay in the Education, Health and Care needs assessment for her child. The Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused. We cannot investigate her complaint about the assessment process or the content of the final EHC Plan as she has appealed to the Tribunal.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Education, Health and Care plan process. This is because the Council has agreed to an appropriate remedy for the injustice caused.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Education, Health and Care Plan process and the education provided to Mrs X’s son. This is because Mrs X appealed to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability). This places the matter outside our jurisdiction.

Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her request it assess her child for an Education, Health and Care Plan. The Council has apologised and offered a payment for the injustice caused by the delay. There is nothing more we could achieve by investigating further.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of his request it assess his child for an Education, Health and Care Plan. Mr X’s appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) places part of the complaint outside our jurisdiction. The Council has apologised and offered a payment for the injustice caused by the ongoing delay. There is nothing more we could achieve by investigating further.

Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her request it assess her child for an Education, Health and Care Plan. The Council has apologised and offered a payment for the injustice caused by the delay. There is nothing more we could achieve by investigating further.

Summary: The Council delayed issuing Mrs X’s child, Y’s, Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. It also failed to consider suitable alternative education and how to secure the provision in Y’s EHC Plan when Y stopped attending school. This resulted in Y missing one term of education and caused Mrs X uncertainty over what provision Y would be entitled to in their amended EHC Plan. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to Mrs X.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to include a 50% share in a property as capital when completing a financial assessment. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the accuracy of information in a court report. The law prevents us from investigating a complaint about what happened in court.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council is at fault in refusing to involve the complainant in matters relating to his child. This is because the complaint is closely related to matters which have been, or can be, raised in court.

Summary: we will not investigate Ms P’s complaint about the Council’s response to her concerns about safeguarding at a local school because there is insufficient evidence of fault or injustice.

Summary: Mr X complains about how Lancashire County Council are supporting the care for his grandmother, Mrs Y, specifically they are failing to safeguard her and are biased towards other members of her family. We do not consider Mr X is suitable to represent Mrs Y and therefore we will not investigate this complaint further.

Summary: The Council was at fault. It did not complete Miss X’s child, Y’s annual review in 2023 and delayed completing Y’s next annual review. It failed to make a decision on amendments to Y’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan and subsequently delayed issuing it. The Council also failed to monitor Y’s alternative provision package. These faults caused Miss X frustration, distress and uncertainty and impacted on Y’s education. The Council will apologise to Miss X and make a symbolic payment to her. The Council has already put in place actions to improve its service.

Summary: There was a delay of over nine months in completing an annual review of a child’s Education, Health and Care Plan. This delayed a decision whether the child could move schools and denied the family a right of appeal for this period. The Council has agreed to make a symbolic payment of £500 to acknowledge the time, trouble, uncertainty and distress caused by the excessive delay. The complaint is upheld.

Summary: Ms X complained about the Council’s handling of her child Y’s Education Health and Care Plan. She complained the Council failed to decide whether to amend the plan before 2024, failed to meet statutory timescales when it decided to amend the plan in 2024, and had poor standards of communication and complaint handling. We cannot investigate the matters before 2024 because they are late, but we find the Council at fault for missing statutory deadlines and for its communication and complaint handling from 2024 onwards. The faults caused Ms X and Y significant distress, uncertainty, frust

Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about how the Council managed her child’s education. We cannot investigate issues which are not separable from Miss X’s appeal to a tribunal and part of her complaint is made late.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Education, Health and Care plan process. This is because the Council has agreed to an appropriate remedy for the injustice caused by the delay.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint that his property has been flooded due to the Council’s failure to provide adequate highway drainage. This is because it is reasonable for Mr B to take the Council to court.

Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s school’s admissions appeal panel refusing her appeal. It is unlikely we would find fault which caused Mrs X to lose out on a school place.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision about how a direct payment has been used. There is insufficient evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

Summary: Miss X complains the Council failed to complete a sensory profile assessment for her child, Y and failed to complete a carers assessment for her. Miss X also complains the Council failed to provide the support in her child’s Education, Health and Care Plan, failed to complete reviews and failed to act when it was made aware the school could not meet her child’s needs. Miss X says the Council failed to support in ensuring her child’s medications were administered and did not give advice about food banks. Miss X says this caused her distress and her child’s needs have not been properly

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about adult social care. The injustice does not justify an Ombudsman investigation. We cannot decide what caused or contributed to a death, so it is unlikely we would add anything further or achieve a worthwhile outcome.

Summary: Mr X complained the Council failed to complete the annual review of his child’s Education, Health and Care Plan and failed to suitably communicate with him. We found fault with the Council failing to complete the annual review process of Mr X’s child’s EHC Plan for 28 months outside the statutory timescales. We also found fault with the Council’s handling of Mr X’s complaint. The Council agreed to apologise to Mr X, pay him £500 for the avoidable inconvenience and frustration he experienced and £1,750 for his child’s uncertainty and potential lost opportunity caused by the Council’s f

Summary: We have upheld Miss X’s complaint because the Council delayed issuing a final Education Health and Care Plan for her child. The Council has agreed to resolve the complaint by offering to make a suitable payment to Miss X to remedy the injustice this caused. We will not investigate the school named by the Council because it is reasonable for Miss X to use her right of appeal to a tribunal.