LGO Individual Decisions

Summary: The Council was at fault for failing to provide Ms X with interim accommodation when she was homeless and heavily pregnant. As a result, Ms X gave birth without anywhere to live and continues to sofa surf with her newborn. The Council was also at fault for poor communication and delay accepting the main housing duty. The Council has agreed to apologise, provide Ms X with temporary accommodation, make payments to her, and act to improve its services.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to change the priority date of his housing application. There is not enough evidence of fault causing injustice.

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

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about an unsuccessful application for a disabled persons freedom pass. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

Summary: Mrs Y complains on behalf of her husband, Mr Y, that he has not been awarded a blue badge. Mrs Y says the Council failed to fully consider the evidence before making its decision. Mrs Y says this has caused stress and frustration and has isolated and affected Mr Y physically and mentally. We have found no fault in the actions of the Council.

Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint the Council failed to respond to her stage two complaint under the children statutory complaints procedure within the required timescales. This is because the Council agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused.

Summary: We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the naming of a school in her child’s Education Health and Care Plan. This is because Mrs X used her right of appeal to a tribunal, and the issues she has raised are not separable from that appeal.

Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about Penalty Charge Notices because Mr Y has already used his right to appeal to the Traffic Enforcement Centre.

Summary: Ms X complained about the Council’s actions in relation to her child, Y’s, Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. The Council was at fault. It delayed issuing a draft amended EHC Plan following an annual review meeting and failed to issue a final amended EHC Plan. The Council has already apologised. The Council has agreed it will pay Ms X £200 to acknowledge the distress and frustration it caused her.

Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s assessment of her housing application because there is no evidence of fault in the way the Council made its decision.

Summary: Mr X complains about the way the Council responded to his complaints of disrepair at his rented property and harassment by his landlord. We found no evidence of fault in the way the Council considered the alleged harassment by his landlord. The Council has accepted it delayed in dealing with Mr X’s complaints and offered a suitable remedy for the injustice caused in this case. So, we have completed our investigation.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about his homelessness application because it is late.

Summary: Mr X complained the Council delayed completing his daughter, Y’s, Education, Health and Care needs assessment. He complained the Council denied the opportunity to meet him twice and issued the plan without his agreement. Mr X said Y did not have the provision she needed and the situation distressed the family. There was fault in the way the Council delayed issuing Y’s plan, did not agree to meet with him and did not follow its complaint process. This distressed Mr X, frustrated his appeal rights to the Tribunal and Y missed plan provision. Mr X was also put to time and trouble to comp

this complaint about the Council’s assessment of a housing application. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about housing allocations because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, achieve a worthwhile outcome or the outcome Miss Y is seeking.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council handled the complainant’s council tax after she reported a change in her circumstances. This is because the Council has agreed to make a symbolic payment and has provided a satisfactory remedy.

Summary: We have completed our investigation. The Council were at fault for failing to complete the statutory children’s complaints procedure. The Councils failings caused delay and unnecessary confusion for Ms Z. The Council should re-start the statutory children’s complaints procedure at stage two without delay. It should also make a symbolic payment to Ms Z and apologise to her.

Summary: We have completed our investigation. The Council were at fault for failing to complete the statutory children’s complaints procedure. Mrs B experienced unnecessary delay and frustration because of this fault. The Council have agreed to re-start the statutory children’s complaints procedure at stage two without delay. The Council will also make a symbolic payment to Mrs B and apologise to her.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr Y’s complaints the Council did not carry out checks on tenants it proposed in 2018 and it stopped paying housing benefit directly to him in 2021. This is because these complaints are late.

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: We will not investigate this complaint about a Penalty Charge Notice. It is reasonable for Ms X to use her statutory right of appeal.

Summary: Miss X complained the Council has failed to provide a suitable full-time education for her son. And that the Council delayed in completing a review / re-assessment of her son’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs and in issuing and amended final EHC Plan. We found the Council made a suitable offer of education pending a re-assessment of Miss X’s son’s needs. However the failure to complete the re-assessment and issue a final EHC Plan within the statutory timeframe is fault. This fault has caused Miss X an injustice.

Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about a Penalty Charge Notice because Miss Y has already started court action about the matter.

Summary: Miss X complains about the Council’s decision to cease to maintain her son, Y’s, EHCP and a failure to inform of a change in Y's caseworker. We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to cease to maintain Y’s EHCP. Y had a right of appeal to the SEND Tribunal to appeal the Council’s decision to cease to maintain their EHCP, and this means the matter is out of our jurisdiction. Further, the Council has apologised to Miss X and reminded local settings of its expectations in order to ensure information is correctly shared in future.

Summary: Ms X complained the Council has not reviewed her priority on its housing register. Ms X says she continues to live in overcrowded conditions. We have found the Council at fault as Ms X’s priority has not been reviewed. To remedy the injustice caused the Council agreed to apologise, make a payment to Ms X for the uncertainty caused, re-consider her priority and carry out a service improvement.