LGO Individual Decisions

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the authority’s failure to take action over a complaint about domestic fire safety. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

Summary: The Council took too long to assess a child’s needs; it was not clear with the family what support it would offer; and it did not provide all the support it agreed. The Council did not always communicate clearly, and did not always give clear reasons for its decisions. The Council took too long to deal with the mother’s complaints about this. This caused the family distress and uncertainty and means the child has missed out on support she is entitled to. The Council has agreed take action to remedy the injustice.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the school admissions process. The Council has offered a fresh appeal and it is unlikely an investigation would achieve anything more.

Summary: Mr F complained the Council failed to provide suitable education for his son after he was permanently excluded and about delay in the education, health and care needs assessment. We found fault. The Council has agreed to make a payment to Mr F to remedy the injustice caused.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s involvement in Mr X’s care. The substantive matters are late and there is not a good reason for the delay in them being brought to the Ombudsman.

Summary: The Council is at fault for not securing a full-time education or delivering special education need provision to Mr X’s son when they moved to the area. The Council has acknowledged this fault and has agreed to apologise and pay a financial remedy to Mr X in line with the Ombudsman’s Guidance on Remedies. The Council also identified service improvements it has made in relation to education provision.

Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about a child’s school placement. This is because the complainant has used their right of appeal to a tribunal.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a school admission appeal. This is because Mrs X can submit a fresh appeal for the current academic year. An investigation by the Ombudsman is not justified because it would not achieve anything more.

Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the actions of her mother’s care home towards the family and about the quality of care provided to her mother. This is because the Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s refusal to carry out maintenance to a bridleway which has private vehicle access rights. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

Summary: Mr X complained on behalf of his wife, the Council consistently issued inaccurate invoices for the day centre she attends. The Council accepts it was not inputting the attendance data in a timely manner and so invoices were inaccurate. This is fault. Since June 2024 a new system has been introduced which should mean invoices are accurate.

Summary: We found no fault on Mr F’s complaint on behalf of his mother about the Council’s decision a payment to him in April 2021 following the sale of his mother’s property, amounted to a deprivation of assets. He said its actions caused distress. There was delay in responding to some of his correspondence, but the Council’s apology remedied the injustice caused.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about fault in the process of assessing the complainant’s son’s education, health and care needs. This is because the law prevents us from investigating matters relating to the content of the Education Health and Care Plan, and our intervention would not add anything to the apology the Council has already made for the delay on its part.

Summary: Mrs X complained the Council delayed carrying out an agreed remedy from a previous Ombudsman investigation in November 2022. The Council had agreed to arrange and carry out an Occupational Therapy (OT) assessment for her daughter, F within one month of that decision. The Council delayed arranging the OT assessment by around six months. It agreed to make a payment to Mrs X to acknowledge the injustice this caused. It also agreed to update us on its action plan to address the shortage of therapists in its area within three months.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a carer’s assessment carried out by the Council. This is because the Council has agreed to address the matter through the appropriate complaint procedure, and this provides a proportional remedy for the injustice caused to the complainant.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council carried out a contract tender exercise. We cannot achieve the outcome the complainant is seeking. Also, it is reasonable to expect the complainant to ask the courts to decide whether the Council has acted unlawfully.

Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s Schools Admissions Appeal Panel’s failure to provide her child with a place at School Y. It is unlikely the Ombudsman would find fault which caused them to lose out on a school place.

Summary: We will not investigate Miss X complaint about children services’ issues. We cannot investigate matters which have been involved in Court proceedings and Social Work England is better placed to consider social worker conduct issues.

Summary: Mrs C complained about care and support the Council and Trust provided to her late sister, Ms D, and about how the organisations communicated with Ms D’s family. We will not investigate Mrs C’s complaint, because it is unlikely we could add to the responses Mrs C has already received from the organisations she complains about.

Summary: There is no evidence that the Council delayed Mr X’s move from the assessment unit unnecessarily while his family was looking for a care home. The care provider acknowledged there may have been a lack of communication about the assessment unit and some other facilities were less than ideal, for which the care provider apologised.

Summary: We will not investigate a complaint about how a Trust and a Council dealt with a complaint about the care provided to the complainant’s brother. This is because he did not provide consent to share his information and this was appropriately considered by the organisations during the local complaints process.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council failed to properly consider complaints about the care of and contact with the complainant’s children, and that it failed to take action agreed during the investigation of the complaint. This is because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

Summary: Mr F complained that the Council failed to provide alternative education provision and social care support to his son. We found delay in starting alternative provision, a delay in issuing the final EHC plan and fault in complaint-handling. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to remedy the injustice this caused.

Summary: Mr B complained about a Traffic Regulation Order made by the Council in 2023, as it did not include previous plans to install double yellow lines on a section of road near his property to ensure a drain gully was not blocked by parked cars. We have not found fault with actions of the Council.

Summary: Mrs X complained the Council failed to deliver suitable alternative provision to her son. We have found no fault with how the Council considered its section 19 duty or the alternative provision it delivered.