LGO Individual Decisions

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council destroying his plants by spraying his boundary wall with weedkiller. This is because we could not achieve any worthwhile outcome for Mr X.

Summary: Ms A complained that the Council delayed in moving her mother Ms X to appropriate alternative accommodation and as such has caused personal financial loss to Ms X. We find there was no fault on the part of the Council. No-one had legal authority over Ms X’s finances and no move could be achieved until deputyship was resolved.

Summary: There was fault in the Council’s refusal to accept the recommendation of its own complaint investigator, to offer the complainant a payment to reflect the inconvenience he had experienced, because of the Council’s mishandling of his application for a flood recovery grant. The Council has now agreed to make this payment.

Summary: We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint that her car was damaged after driving on a newly re-surfaced road. This is because it is reasonable for Mrs B to pursue her compensation claim by taking the Council to court.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a lack of support during Mr X’s childhood and the Council’s handling of his housing and adult social care. This is

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about an alleged data breach because the Information Commissioner’s Office is better placed to deal with the matter.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision that the complainant is not entitled to a companion bus pass. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about an alleged delay by the Council in handling a property purchase. This is because there is another organisation better placed to deal with the complaint.

Summary: Mrs B complained the Council failed to follow the correct process following a Tribunal order and it has failed to provide the correct support as detailed in her son’s Education, Health and Care Plan. We found the Council at fault for a delay in providing the special educational provision set out in the Education, Health and Care Plan. This caused distress and frustration. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a symbolic payment to remedy the injustice caused.

Summary: Mrs X complained about the Council’s handling of her child, Y’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan and annual reviews since 2023. She also complained about a failure to investigate safeguarding allegations. The Council was at fault. It delayed issuing amended EHC Plans following annual reviews in 2023 and 2024 and delayed putting alternative provision in place during 2024. It considered the safeguarding allegations without fault. The Council agreed to make payments to recognise the injustice caused to Y and Mrs X and issue Y’s EHC Plan without further delay.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint the Council has not completed a timely review of his son’s sleeping system. This is because the Council agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused.

Summary: Mr X complains about the lack of information he received when his father was discharged from hospital. We found fault by the Council and the NHS organisation responsible for coordinating hospital discharges with their communication. This led to a loss of opportunity for Mr X to make informed decisions about his father’s care. The organisations have agreed to apologise to Mr X and pay a financial payment in recognition of the loss of opportunity and distress, and make service improvements.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about an alleged safeguarding failure by the Council. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant our further involvement. Matters concerning data protection would be better raised with the Information Commissioner as they have powers to order disclosure and to impose penalties for deletion that we lack.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s placement of a young person with the complainant as a foster carer. This is because the complaint concerns matters which are for the courts to decide, and it would be reasonable for the complainant to take them to court.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a planning application and a breach of planning control. This is because the complainant has appealed to the Planning Inspector, and we will not investigate where the substantive issue is outside our jurisdiction.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to take enforcement action against Mr X’s neighbours for occupying land which has no permission for residential use. This is because the complaint is late and we have seen no reason why Mr x could not have complained to us much sooner.

Summary: X had already complained to the Ombudsman about this matter, and we reached an agreement with the Council on how it should remedy the injustice caused by the fault we had found. X has come back to us, because the injustice caused by the fault is continuing. We found evidence of continuing injustice and have recommended a remedy, which the Council accepted, so we have completed our investigation.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about planning permission and a highway obstruction because the matter is partly out of time, there is a legal remedy and there is no evidence of fault by the Council.

Summary: Miss Y complains on behalf of her adult daughter, Miss W, about the Council’s decision not to provide direct payments to fund a Personal Assistant. There is some procedural fault in the Council’s support planning because Miss W’s support plan does not show how all her eligible needs will be met. The Council has agreed to apologise and review Miss W’s support plan.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with applications to register land as a town or village green. This is because the complainant has not suffered significant personal injustice.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Mrs X’s needs not being met as a carer. This is because the Council has already agreed to a reassessment so an investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s pre-planning application advice. The Council’s apology and refund of the pre planning advice application fee is an acceptable remedy to the complaint.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about highway maintenance because there is another body better placed to consider the complaint.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to issue the complainant a community protection notice for anti-social behaviour, or with respect to later matters. This is because the complainant could reasonably have exercised his right of appeal if he disagreed with the notice. There is no evidence the complainant has complained to the Council about matters subsequent to this and so these would be premature for us to investigate.

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