LGO Individual Decisions

Summary: We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about the actions of the Council concerning his family. The matters he complains of are closely linked to matters now subject to court action regarding the care and residency arrangements for a child. A legal bar prevents us from investigating them, both now and permanently after the end of the court action.

Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint that the Council has failed to act to safeguard the complainant’s daughter. This is because the complaint concerns matters which are the subject of legal action and are for the Court to decide.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s engagement with Mr X in matters relating to his children’s welfare. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault causing injustice and we could not achieve a worthwhile outcome for Mr X.

Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s delay in issuing an Education, Health and Care Plan for her child. This is because the Council has provided a suitable remedy for the issue. We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint about the contents of the final Education, Health and Care Plan because Miss X has used her right of appeal to the SEND Tribunal.

Summary: Mrs X complained the Council delayed assessing her child’s education, health and care (EHC) needs, delayed issuing his EHC Plan and it failed to respond to her complaints. The Council is at fault. The identified faults caused Mrs X avoidable distress, uncertainty, delayed her appeal rights and unnecessary time and trouble. The Council has agreed to remedy the injustice by apologising and providing Mrs X with remedy payments to acknowledge the avoidable distress.

Summary: We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to carry out an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment for her child. This is because Mrs X has appealed to a tribunal.

Summary: We will not investigate this late complaint about the care home where Mr X’s late father was placed. There is no good reason for the delay which would justify us investigating now.

Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to refuse her application for free home to school transport for her daughter. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an investigation.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s dissatisfaction with the Council’s response to his insurance claim. This is because it does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. It is reasonable to expect the complainant to go to court.

Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to relocate the bus stop outside her property. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to justify investigating.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Education, Health and Care Plan process for the complainant’s child. The Council has offered a suitable remedy and an investigation would not achieve anything more. We will not look at the Council’s complaint handling as a standalone issue.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council incorrectly recording that Mr X’s care had been funded by NHS continuing healthcare. It apologised to Mrs X for its error and reissued invoices for the correct amount. We could not achieve anything further.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to backdate care charges for a period where the complainant was unaware these would be chargeable. This is because the Council has waived all charges for this period and this decision provides a sufficient remedy to any injustice caused to the complainant.

Summary: Mrs X complains about the Council’s failure to support her son properly in the time leading up to his death. We have discontinued the investigation into this complaint, as the coroner will be holding an inquest into the son’s death, which is likely to consider similar issues to those Mrs X has complained to the Ombudsman about.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint that his car was damaged by a pothole which the Council had failed to repair. This is because it is reasonable for Mr B to pursue his compensation claim by taking the Council to court.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s refusal to pay compensation for damage as this is a matter for the courts.

Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint the Council reduced her personal budget. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

Summary: Mrs X complained about how the Council handled her child’s transition from education other than at school to a school setting and its failure to provide her child with the personal budgets contained in her Education, Health and Care Plan. Mrs X also complained about how the Council poorly communicated with her. There were some faults by the Council which caused injustice to Mrs X. The Council will take action to remedy the injustice caused.

Summary: Mr & Mrs X complain the Council is failing to meet their needs as carers for their two children. The Council accepts it did not give Mrs X four weeks’ notice before reducing her carer’s personal budget. The Council needs to apologise and make a symbolic payment to Mrs X for the distress this caused. The Council was not at fault over the way it assessed Mr & Mrs X’s needs as carers. It has been open to them to work with the Council to agree support plans which meet their needs.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about adult safeguarding and failing to communicate with the complainant. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation. The person receiving care support has capacity to make their own decisions about their care. The Council is not making the decisions or excluding the complainant. The Council has given a thorough written response to the concerns, and it is unlikely we would achieve anything further.

Summary: There is no evidence of fault in the way the Council reached its decision that Mrs X had deliberately deprived herself of assets in order to avoid care home costs.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a flood depth marker because any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision not to issue an Education, Health and Care Plan. This is because it would be reasonable for Mrs X to appeal to a tribunal.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about mental capacity assessments completed in late 2022 because the complaint is late. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint the Council failed to help him more recently because there is insufficient evidence of fault.

Summary: Mr X complains the Council has failed to meet his son’s, Mr P’s, needs for care and support. The Council accepts it took too long to reassess his needs, and it changed his personal budget without giving four weeks’ notice. It apologised for the delay but not the lack of notice. The Council needs to apologise for the lack of notice and make a symbolic payment to Mr X for the distress caused.