LGO Individual Decisions

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of Ms X’s council tax payments. This is because an investigation is unlikely to add to that already carried out by the Council or lead to a significantly different outcome.

Summary: Mr X complained about the way the Council dealt with his residential care. We find the Council at fault for a delay in advising Mr X of changes to his care. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mr X and make a payment to recognise the injustice caused.

Summary: Miss X complained the Council failed to place her in suitable accommodation, it did not allow her to place bids for social housing properties and it did not properly respond to her queries and her complaint. We have not investigated the suitability of Miss X’s temporary accommodation as she had appeal rights to use to challenge this. However, we found there was a failure to place her on the housing register and the Council’s complaint response was poor. We recommended an apology and a payment to reflect the impact of the fault by the Council.

Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about support provided to her relative, Ms Y, by the Council’s adult social care services. There is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to child protection referrals. This is because investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a penalty charge notice that the Council issued. The Council has cancelled it and ordered that it be reimbursed in full. Further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

Summary: We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of a request for rehousing. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Ms X could not have complained to us sooner.

Summary: Mr X complains the Council has wrongly taken recovery action in relation to council tax for several properties his company manages. As a result they have incurred unnecessary additional charges and fees. We found there is no evidence of fault in the way the Council has issued bills or in the subsequent recovery action.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of planning applications and an associated planning enforcement case relating to works near the complainant’s home. This is primarily because parts of the complaint are late, and there is not enough evidence of fault directly causing the complainant a significant injustice in relation to the more recent issues.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint the Council failed to complete an adult care needs review. That is because it is late.

Summary: Miss D complained the Council placed her in unsuitable accommodation and it failed to take timely action to address the issues with the accommodation. She also complained the Council failed to provide her with appropriate redress for the damage caused to her possessions and the impact on her mental and physical health. We find the Council was at fault for how it dealt with Miss D’s accommodation and how it dealt with her complaint about the matter. The Council has agreed to our recommendations to address the injustice caused by fault.

Summary: Mrs X complained on behalf of her son, Mr Y, the Council refused to pay for the two-to-one care Mr Y needed and had not completed a review of his care needs between March 2022 and September 2023. The Council failed to properly assess, plan and review Mr Y’s care needs and did not communicate with Mrs X. The Council will apologise to Mrs X and pay her a symbolic amount of £500 to recognise the frustration, uncertainty and distress this caused her and will remind relevant officers to keep clear, complete and contemporaneous records.

Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about a data breach by the Council because the Information Commissioner’s Office is better placed to deal with that complaint. We will not investigate the complaint about the steps the Council took after the data breach was identified because we could not add to the Council’s investigation.

Summary: Mrs H complained the Council failed to ensure her son (X) received all the provision set out in his Education, Health, and Care plan since 2021. We found the Council was responsible for a service failure which caused a short delay in putting occupational therapy in place in 2024, and it failed to issue a decision notice following an annual review. It should apologise to Mrs H and make a symbolic payment to acknowledge the short delay X experienced to receive occupational therapy. There was no other fault, and parts of Mrs H’s complaint was late.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision not to issue a blue badge. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a parking penalty charge notice as Mr X can appeal against it to an independent tribunal.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about lighting in an alley way as the complainant is not caused a significant injustice from it.

Summary: Ms X complains the Council failed to assess her needs properly and took over a year to send the assessment to her. The Council accepts it took too long to send Ms X her assessment. It needs to apologise, make a symbolic payment and reassess her needs, taking account of her requests for adjustments when doing the assessment.

Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to recover an amount in unpaid council tax. This is because the matter has been subject to liability proceedings in court. Further, the complainant has a right of appeal to tribunal should she feel the Council has refused to apply an exemption or discount.

Mr X complained about the Council’s actions when it rented a property from him. Mr X said the Council did not review the rent and pay the rental value between June 2018 and June 2023, did not maintain the property or return it to Mr X in line with

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the complainant being banned from Council premises. Further investigation would not lead to a different outcome as the ban has now been rescinded. The Information Commissioner is better placed to consider complaints about data protection matters.

Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s personal injury claim as it does not meet the tests set out in our Assessment Code. This is because it is reasonable to expect Mrs X to go to court to determine the Council’s liability.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Council tax as the matter has been remedied.

Summary: Miss X complained the Council failed to provide her child with alternative education when he was unable to attend school. The Council is at fault and this resulted in a loss of provision for 11 weeks. The Council has agreed to remedy the injustice this caused.

Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s historic complaint about the Council’s actions when she was a child. The complaint lies outside our jurisdiction because it is late and there are no good grounds to exercise discretion to consider it now.