LGO Individual Decisions

Summary: There was fault in the way the Council responded to the complainant’s reports of anti-social behaviour (ASB) in her building. The Council did not give proper consideration to the complainant’s needs or to its full toolkit of powers for tackling ASB, did not follow its own ASB policy as a landlord, made a series of errors in undertaking an ASB case review, and delayed updating its risk assessment of the complainant and responding to her formal complaint. This caused distress and frustration to the complainant, for which the Council has agreed to apologise and offer a financial remedy.

Summary: Mr X complained about how the Council handled his repeated reports about mice issues in his temporary accommodation. He said this significantly affected his children’s health and his family’s general wellbeing. We found the Council at fault for shortcomings in the action it took, failing to carry out any suitability reviews and delay in complaint handling. The Council has agreed to apologise and pay a symbolic payment to recognise the injustice caused.

Summary: We have upheld this complaint about the Council’s delay in making a decision about whether to award medical priority on its housing register for Mr Y and whether he needed an extra bedroom for a carer. The Council has agreed to make a payment to remedy the frustration and uncertainty caused. We will not investigate the complaint about the decision reached because there is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s decision-making to justify this and Mr Y had a review right, which it was reasonable for him to use.

Summary: The Council was at fault for delays dealing with Mr X’s homelessness application. Its failure to give Mr X accurate information meant he missed out on accommodation. As a result, he and his family have been living separately among friends and family for over a year. To remedy this injustice, the Council has agreed to apologise, provide accommodation and make payments to Mr X.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with Miss X’s complaint. Investigation by us of the substantive child protection matters underlying the complaint would be unlikely to lead to a finding of fault, and there would thus be no worthwhile outcome from investigating how the Council dealt with the complaint about these matters.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint, made on behalf of Mrs Y, about the Council damaging her bin and how it dealt with the complaint. Investigation would not achieve a worthwhile outcome for Mrs Y nor add to the Council’s investigation. Even if there was Council fault, the injustice caused would not be sufficiently significant to warrant investigation. It would be reasonable for Mrs Y to make her claim of personal injury to the Council’s insurers and take it to court if required. We do not investigate councils’ complaint handling where we are not investigating the core issues giv

Summary: We will not investigate this housing benefit complaint because Ms X could have used her review and appeal rights.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about issues involving Mrs X’s child’s attendance at a summer club. The Council’s role in these matters is limited and investigation is unlikely to lead to a finding of fault.

Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s involvement with her child. The law prevents us from investigating anything that has been the subject of court proceedings or could have reasonably been raised in court. We cannot achieve the outcome Ms X wants.

Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her blue badge application. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an investigation.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the support the complainant received from the Residents’ Support Scheme. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault causing injustice.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the complainant’s priority on the housing register. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN). We cannot investigate matters if someone has appealed to a tribunal.

Summary: The Council has already accepted fault in its handling of Mr X’s application to the housing register, as a result of which Mr X may have missed an offer of housing. During our investigation, the Council agreed to remedy this injustice by awarding Mr X extra priority. The Council was also at fault for poor communication and delays in complaint handling. To remedy the distress caused, the Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to Mr X.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council completed a care needs assessment. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the handling of Mr X’s reports of noise and vibration caused by demolition works near his home. This is because there is not enough evidence of material fault by the Council and investigation is unlikely to achieve a different outcome.

Summary: Mr X complained the Council failed to regularly collect waste from his address, did not deal with fly tipping and did not answer his complaints. We find the Council at fault for failing to ensure Mr X’s bins were collected as they should have been and for delays and inaccuracies when responding to his complaint, causing uncertainty and inconvenience. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a payment to recognise the injustice, and act to prevent recurrence.

Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s actions when it reassessed his care needs and decided to amend his care and support plan. We found fault because the Council failed to send Mr X his updated care plan in a timely manner. This caused him avoidable distress, frustration and uncertainty. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mr X, send reminders to relevant staff and review one of its policies.

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 how the Council dealt with Ms X’s complaints about nuisance from a football park. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. There is no significant injustice, and we cannot achieve the outcome Ms X is seeking.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of a housing application since 2016. This has been subject to an earlier complaint which was considered and decided in 2024. There is insufficient evidence of fault in the outcome of a recent review which would warrant an investigation.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about an unsuccessful application for a Blue Badge. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. There is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s actions with respect to Miss X’s late relative, Mr Y. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. There is insufficient evidence to indicate Miss X is a suitable person to raise complaints on Mr Y’s behalf given there was a registered attorney in place.

Summary: Ms B complained about the provision of therapies and activity sessions in accordance with her son D’s Education, Health and Care Plan between September 2020 and July 2022. We found some fault. We consider the Council has offered an adequate remedy for the Occupational Therapy and Speech and Language Therapy but did not acknowledge the failure to provide the activity sessions. The Council has agreed to pay £1165 for the missed sessions and to improve its procedures for the future.

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