LGO Individual Decisions

Summary: There was fault by the Council. It failed to amend Y’s Education, Health and Care Plan following an annual review in December 2021 and failed to complete annual reviews in 2022 or 2023. It also failed to secure the special educational provision in Y’s Plan and delayed responding to Ms X’s complaint. This caused a loss of special educational provision, a loss of appeal rights, avoidable frustration, distress and time and trouble complaining. The Council will issue an apology, make payments for missed educational provision, complete a further annual review and devise a new policy and tr

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s fostering services. The Council has agreed to consider the complaint through the children’s statutory complaint procedure. That is an appropriate resolution to the complaint; it would not be proportionate for us to investigate.

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 investigation.

Summary: Ms X complained the Council has not updated her child’s Education, Health and Care Plan for years meaning she cannot be sure her child is getting the support they need. We have found the Council at fault for not updating the Education, Health and Care Plan and for the way it handled Ms X’s complaints about this. The Council agreed to apologise to Ms X and make payments to recognise the distress, loss of opportunity and time and trouble she experienced.

Summary: We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s increase of its licence fee for renting space at a business centre. This is because the issue is not subject to investigation under the Local Government Act 1974. It is in any event a dispute over whether the Council’s actions breach the licence agreement, which is a matter for the courts.

Summary: Mrs X complained the Council failed to secure the special education provision set out in Y’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. She also complained the Council failed to address concerns about Y’s access to education, or communicate effectively. We have found the Council at fault for failing to conduct an annual review of Y’s EHC Plan, resulting in Y being unable to attend college or receive the provision in the EHC Plan for two academic terms. We have made recommendations to remedy this injustice. There are parts of Mrs X’s complaint we cannot consider. We explain why in the deci

Summary: Mr X says the Council has failed to deal with his complaints of noise from a nearby club. He says this caused him and his family distress. We have found fault in the actions of the Council for failing to issue a decision on the noise complaint and the Council has agreed to apologise to Mr X.

Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the actions of a social worker. She says the social worker inappropriately shared personal information about her with a third party. She also complains the Council did not complete her care assessment appropriately. This is because it is late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider the late complaint.

Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint. This is because there is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to share information with her because she does not have parental responsibility for her grandchildren.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a Penalty Charge Notice because it is reasonable for Mr Y to be expected to approach the Traffic Enforcement Centre.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint alleging the Council breached the terms of a licence agreement for a commercial property. It is not our role to adjudicate on disputed points of law. It is reasonable to expect the complainant to take the matter to court.

Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s actions in its children’s services involvement with her family. This is because there is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to consider her complaint until the ongoing court proceedings have concluded.

Summary: Ms Y complained on behalf of Mrs X about the time taken by the Council to complete adaptations to Mrs X’s home. We have found the Council at fault for delaying completing adaptations to Mrs X’s property. As a result, Mrs X has lived in her home without adaptations she needed. To remedy the injustice caused the Council agreed to apologise, make a financial payment to Mrs X and Ms Y and look at how it could improve its procedures around communication.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about an unsuccessful application for a Blue Badge. This is because it is unlikely we would find fault by the Council.

Summary: Mr X complained about the way the Council dealt with disrepair at his private rented accommodation and his priority banding on its housing register. We have found fault by the Council in its delay in dealing with the disrepair issues and failing to properly consider his requests for a change in his priority banding. These faults caused injustice. The Council has agreed to remedy this injustice by apologising to Mr X, making payments to reflect the upset and worry, and impact of living in unsuitable accommodation for longer than they should have done, together with service improvements

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision not to issue a blue badge. There is not enough evidence of faut to justify our involvement.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a listed building enforcement notice. The notice was served 13 years ago, and it was reasonable for Ms X to use her right of appeal to the Planning Inspectorate if she wished to challenge the notice at the time. There is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council, or Ms X experiencing a significant injustice, in the more recent events.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s view that he does not have permission for the use of a property as a children’s home. The issue is a matter for the planning/appeals process and it is unlikely we could achieve any worthwhile outcome for Mr X.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to manage Miss Y’s daughter Miss X’s finances. This is because the complaint relates to events that took place more than 12 months ago; it would have been reasonable for Miss Y to bring the complaint to us at the time.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the removal of graffiti. Any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. In addition, further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

Summary: We will not investigate this council tax complaint. This is because part of the complaint has been considered in court and there is another part the complainant says he will take to court. For other issues there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and the complainant could complain to the Information Commissioner.

Summary: The Council took too long to make alternative educational provision for Miss B’s son when he was excluded from school and while he was waiting for a new school place to be confirmed with special educational provision. The Council also did not always communicate with Miss B properly. This caused Miss B distress and frustration and meant that her son went without the education he was entitled to. The Council has agreed to my recommendations to remedy the injustice it has caused.

Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s variation of an agreement for the lease of garden land. This is because we cannot determine the Council’s intentions at the time of the original agreement and if Mrs X believes it has breached the terms of the agreement it would be reasonable for her to take the matter to court.

Summary: Mr H complained about how the Council investigated and responded to safeguarding allegations made against Mrs J. Mr H said this caused Mrs J to lose employment with a new employer and affected her mental health. We did not find fault with the Council’s actions.

Summary: Mr X complained the Council failed to properly consider his application and appeal for assistance with home to school transport. We find the Council was at fault for failing to adhere to the statutory guidance when considering Mr X’s appeal. However, this did not cause Mr X a significant injustice. The Council has agreed to my recommendation.