LGO Individual Decisions

Summary: Mr D says the Council failed to investigate and act on concerns he raised about the actions of his ex-partner and, in so doing, showed bias and failed to consider his complaint properly. I have found no evidence of fault.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about traffic management because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

Summary: Mr X complains the Council has not properly dealt with his housing priority. The Council is at fault because it did not record how it made its decision. Mr X suffered uncertainty and avoidable distress. The Council should record its decision making about medical priority and reassess Mr X’s priority.

Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about children services support to her as a foster carer. There are no good reasons the late complaint rule should not apply to her 2023 complaint. And it is reasonable to expect her to complete the Council’s complaint procedure on her June 2024 complaint.

Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about how the Council responded to concerns about bullying in a school. This is because the complaint flows from the internal management of a school which we have no jurisdiction to consider. The law says we cannot consider complaints about the actions of councils in relation to matters that are outside our jurisdiction.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council incorrectly disclosed information about the complainant to their employer. This is because the Information Commissioner is better placed to investigate this matter.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the storage of a bin by a neighbour and the provision of two bins without charge. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault regarding the storage issue and because the Council will provide two bins as requested.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about highways drainage maintenance because the courts are better placed to consider the complaint.

Summary: Mr B complained the Council relied on incorrect and irrelevant factors when it decided to include his grandmother’s house in her financial assessment. We find no fault with the Council’s decision making.

Summary: We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about a possible conflict of interest concerning high-value contracts for services. This is because the issue does not cause Mr X significant personal injustice. The injustice he claims is indirect and affects ‘all or most’ of the people in the Council’s area.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the outcome of an occupational therapy assessment and the Council’s refusal to agree a disabled facilities grant for major adaptations. There is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.

Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s School Admissions Appeal Panel’s handling of her appeal against the refusal to offer her child a place at her preferred school. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to warrant further investigation.

Summary: We will not investigate the Council’s handling of Mr X’s Right to Buy application. The complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. It is reasonable to expect Mr X to use the legal notice of delay procedure and, if needed, to take the Council to court. We will also not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council wrongly claimed solar panels were not fixtures and fittings. There is not enough evidence of fault in how the Council made its decision and in any case, this is a matter better dealt with by the courts.

There was fault by the Council and a care home it commissioned: Mrs Y was deprived of her liberty without an authorisation, there was a failure to involve her attorney in a best interest meeting to decide on a new placement, a complaint response lacked detail and a private contract should not have been issued. This caused avoidable confusion, frustration and distress. The Council will apologise and make symbolic payments. It will also review procedures for assessing cases referred for deprivation of liberty assessments to ensure these take place within the required legal timeframes.

Summary: Miss X complains the Council has failed to issue an Education Health and Care Plan for her daughter, Y, within the statutory timescales. Miss X says this has caused her and her family distress and frustration. We have found fault in the Council's actions for failing to issue Y’s Education Health and Care Plan within the statutory timescales. The Council has agreed to apologise, issue Y’s final Education Health and Care Plan and make a financial payment.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s Schools Admissions Appeal Panel’s failure to provide his 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 Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s communications with him about the care needs of his family member. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. This is because we have no remit to look at what happened during court proceedings, and we are unlikely to find evidence of fault in other matters.

Summary: There was no fault in the way the Council discharged its duty to secure educational provision for a child who had been excluded from school. The Council was at fault for a delay in issuing an amended education, health and care plan for him, but this did not cause any injustice beyond some frustration for the complainant, for which the Council has already apologised. The Council was also at fault because it failed to recognise it had issued an earlier version of the education, health and care plan, but we cannot investigate the consequences of this because it is outside our jurisdictio

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about parking issues outside his property. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of a planning application. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the content of an early help assessment completed by a social worker. This is because the complaint concerns matters which may be raised in the course of private law proceedings, or are closely related to such matters.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about adult social care fees allegedly owed from an estate. The complaint is a late complaint as the complainant has known about it for more than 12 months. The Council failed to set up a deferred payment agreement, but that does not cause significant injustice. So even if it were not late, we would not investigate. If there was no fault the disputed fees would have been paid under the terms of the deferred payment agreement.

Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint that a Council officer breached her personal data. This is because it is best dealt with by the Information Commissioner's Office.

Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint that her son was not issued with a bus pass. This is because the Council have agreed to provide a bus pass, and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

Summary: The Council failed to properly respond to Ms X’s concerns about the care her sister received from a care agency acting on behalf of the Council. This led to a prolonged period of short care visits and significant frustration for Ms X. The Council also failed to deal with Ms X’s concerns about overcharging for care services. The Council has implemented widespread changes in response to this complaint.