LGO Individual Decisions

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: Miss X complained about how the Council manged her savings as a looked after child.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a breach of planning control. This is because the complainant has appealed to the Planning Inspector.

Summary: Miss X complained the Council took six weeks to respond to her request to pay a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) in instalments. Miss X says this meant she did not have the opportunity to pay the PCN at the discounted rate and it then issued the charge certificate further increasing the penalty by £65. The Council was not at fault for charging Miss X the full amount of the PCN as this was in line with its payment arrangement policy. The Council was at fault for issuing the charge certificate further increasing the fine before it responded to Miss X’s instalment request. This has caused dis

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with Mr X’s concerns raised with the Safeguarding Unit. This is because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of a housing application. It was reasonable for Miss X to ask the Council to carry out a review of her priority.

Summary: Miss X complained the Council was too slow to act when dealing with her complaint about noise coming from a business near to her home. We found fault because of poor communication, delays in taking decisive action and delayed complaint handling. This would have caused Miss X avoidable distress, frustration and uncertainty. To remedy the injustice caused, the Council has agreed to apologise to Miss X, make a payment to her and share this decision with staff so it can learn from mistakes.

Summary: Mr X complained the Council did not consider his and his family’s health conditions and disabilities when it decided which schools his children should go to and that it would not provide transport for the children to get to school. The Council failed to consider Mr X’s school transport application properly which caused him frustration and uncertainty. The Council will apologise and hold an independent appeal panel to reconsider Mr X’s school transport application.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of Miss X’s homelessness application in 2024 and her recent housing register application. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s bin collection staff leaving waste on his street after collections, its complaint process, and its general street cleaning.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council issuing an environmental Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) and the Council’s complaint handling. This is because the complaint is late, and there are no good reasons to exercise our discretion to investigate it now.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council referring Mr B and his partner, Mrs C, to its safeguarding team when they approached it about Mrs C applying to the housing register, causing them both significant distress and upset. We could not achieve more than the Council’s own investigation or a different result.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council's enforcement of a penalty charge notice as Mr X can ask the court at the Traffic Enforcement Centre to consider his case.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Council tax discounts because there is a right of appeal to a Valuation Tribunal.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Education, Health and Care Plan process. This is because it is unlikely we could add anything to the Council’s response. If Miss X is unhappy with the content of her child’s Education, Health and Care Plan, then it is reasonable for her to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability).

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

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s involvement in Mr X’s children’s case. The law prevents us from investigating matters that have been raised in court.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s application of its housing allocation policy and its decision to refuse Mr X’s application to join its housing register. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council failed to empty his garden waste bin fully on one occasion. This is because the alleged injustice is not significant enough to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of his dropped kerb application because there is not enough evidence of fault affecting its decision. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s complaints handling because it did not cause Mr X significant enough injustice to warrant investigation.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about failures to support and protect a vulnerable adult. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault as nobody raised safeguarding concerns to the Council and no safeguarding concerns were obvious to Council officers. The Council has apologised to the complainant for failures in staffing and displaying contact numbers making it difficult for him to contact the Council in an emergency. The Council has acted to improve its future service. It is unlikely the Ombudsman would add to the Council’s investigation or reach a different outcome.

Summary: Ms X complained that the Council failed to properly consider her request for adaptations to be made to her council property. We cannot investigate the Council’s actions as a registered social landlord. However, we found the Council was at fault for not considering a Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG). We recommended it apologised, supported Ms X to make a DFG application and then considered the application. We also recommended it corrected its policy.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a penalty charge notice as it does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. There is a statutory appeal process which Mr X can reasonably make use of.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about damage caused to his windscreen when the Council’s contractors were mowing grass outside his house. This is because it does not meet the tests in the Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. In this case, t

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a food hygiene inspection at the complainant’s business in 2022. This is because the complaint is made late. The Information Commissioner is better placed to consider complaints about freedom of information requests.