LGO Individual Decisions

Summary: Mrs X complained about delays by the Council completing the Education, Health and Care needs assessment process for her child, Y. Mrs X also complained about the Council's handling of Y’s Education, Health and Care plan, including failure to deliver provision. We found there was fault causing injustice when Council delays led to periods of missed Special Educational Needs provision.

Summary: There was service failure and fault in failing to complete an Education, Health and Care needs assessment on time, a failure in the admissions process, and a failure to consider alternative provision when a child was unable to attend school fulltime. This led to loss of education and placed additional pressures on the family. The Council will apologise, make a financial payment and carry out service improvements.

Summary: Ms X complains about missing psychotherapy support for Mr Y, her adult son, during the summer of 2023 and at the start of the academic year in September 2023. We found there was fault causing injustice when the Council failed to retain proper oversight of Mr Y’s support package, and when it failed to consider the request for summer support in a timely manner.

Summary: Mrs X complained about the treatment and care provided to her late grandmother, Mrs Y while she was living in a nursing home. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is unlikely we could add to the responses she has already received from the organisations she complains about.

Summary: We cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s failure to consult with her about her child, Y’s, draft Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan or its delivery of the provision. This is because Ms X has appealed the content of the EHC Plan to the SEND Tribunal, and the law says we cannot investigate.

Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s assessment of an adult social care referral for her father. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an investigation and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to a road defect which Mr X says is causing vibrations and cracks in his property. This is because Mr X has a right to take the Council to court which places the complaint outside our jurisdiction.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council has dealt with matters relating to a child’s education and social care provision. This is because the issues raised are not separable from those appealed to a tribunal.

Summary: Mrs X complained about the Council’s handling of her son, F’s education and his Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan since 2021. The Council was at fault. It failed to issue an amended EHC Plan following an annual review in February 2022. It also failed to ensure F received an education or the specialist provision in line with his EHC Plan between February 2022 and February 2023 when he was unable to attend school. The Council agreed to apologise to Mrs X and make payments to acknowledge the impact on F’s education and the distress and uncertainty caused to her.

Summary: We uphold this complaint that the Council delayed its response under the statutory process for complaints about children’s services. The Council has agreed to resolve the matter by providing a suitable remedy for the injustice the complainant has been caused.

Summary: Mrs G and Mr Y complained about the Council’s investigation under the statutory children’s complaints procedure into child protection matters regarding their granddaughter/daughter, F which resulted in contact restrictions. Although delayed, the Council properly investigated their complaints but failed to provide an adequate remedy for the injustice caused by the faults it identified. The Council agreed to make payments to Mrs G and Mr Y to acknowledge the distress, frustration and uncertainty caused.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council considered a complaint about the conduct of a councillor. We do not consider the complainant has suffered a significant personal injustice to warrant an investigation.

Summary: Miss X complained the Council failed to provide her son, Y, who has an Education, Health and Care Plan, with a suitable, full-time education for a whole academic year. The law does not allow the Ombudsman to investigate the matters Miss X complains of because they were subject to a tribunal appeal. Therefore, we have ended our investigation of this complaint.

Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the complainants’ children being removed from their care and later put up for adoption. This is because the matter has been considered and decided in court proceedings. The complaint is also made late.

Summary: Mr X complained about delays and missed deadlines when the Council assessed his daughter, Y’s, special educational needs. The Council was at fault for delays, poor communication, and lack of proper oversight of the assessment process.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about restricted access to a city centre road for blue badge holders. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

Summary: I uphold this complaint because the Council was at fault in delaying its response under the statutory process for complaints about children’s services. The Council has agreed to resolve the matter by providing a suitable remedy for the injustice the complainant has been caused.

Miss X complained that the Council: failed to make alternative provision for her son, Y, when he was unable to attend school due to anxiety caused by the school not meeting his needs; delayed in completing an education, health and care plan needs assessment; and  delayed in dealing with her complaints about the Council’s failure to make alternative provision and delay in completing the needs assessment.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the conduct of staff in a library. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. It is unlikely we could add anything to the Council’s response.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the time taken to issue an Education Health and Care Plan. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. The personal injustice is not significant enough to warrant an investigation.

Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about delays in issuing an Education Health and Care Plan decision and in replying to her complaint. It is unlikely we will achieve a significantly different remedy.

Summary: Ms X complained the Council did not properly consider the impact of domestic abuse when carrying out a child and family assessment in 2020. This complaint has been investigated using the children’s statutory complaints process. There was no fault with that investigation, and it is unlikely I could achieve anything more by further investigation. The Council was at fault for a delays in the complaints process and a delay in implementing some of the stage 3 panel’s recommendations. It has apologised and offered to pay Ms X £300 for the injustice caused by the delays, which is appropriate

Summary: Mr R complains about the delay by the Council’s Monitoring Officer in responding to his complaint about its procedure for introducing a low traffic neighbourhood. The Ombudsman has ended our investigation. We uphold Mr R’s complaint. But the Council has taken action which has resolved the issue. No further action by the Ombudsman is needed.

Summary: We have upheld this complaint because the Council delayed consideration of a complaint at stage one of the children’s statutory complaints procedure. The Council has now agreed to resolve the complaint by completing its stage one investigation and providing an appropriate remedy for the injustice caused to the complainant by its delay.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council has dealt with a complaint under the children’s statutory complaints procedure. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.