LGO Individual Decisions

Summary: The Council took too long to review Mr B’s financial assessment which allowed arrears to accrue. It also did not properly consider whether he could afford to pay the arrears. The Council has agreed to take the action recommended below.

Summary: Mrs X complained that the Council failed to effectively search for a suitable care placement for her mother, Mrs P. She says the family felt pressured to accept an unaffordable placement. The Council undertook a thorough search for a placement for Mrs P. However, ultimately, it was at fault for failing to provide a genuine choice of placement. This caused Mrs P an injustice as she felt she had to pay a top-up fee to place her mother in a suitable care home.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to approve a planning application. There is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant our involvement.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about a safeguarding flag not being placed on his childrens’ medical records after he raised concerns about them to the Council. This is because an investigation by this office could not add to the response already provided by the Council.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision not to consider a request for special arrangements in its grammar school entrance test. This is because the Council has now agreed to consider the request and to review its procedures. This is a suitable remedy for the complaint.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about penalty charge notices issued to taxis using the Council’s bus lanes as it reasonable to expect those in receipt of such notices to use the appeal right provided in law.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the council dealt with a breach of planning control. This is because it is not yet possible to determine if the complainant has suffered significant injustice as a result of the alleged fault. We are unlikely to find fault in relation to the remaining issues complained about.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to approve planning permission for development close to listed buildings. We have seen no evidence of fault in the way the Council considered the planning application. Nor do we consider the complainant has suffered a significant personal injustice to warrant our involvement.

Summary: Mr D complained about how the Council handled his late father’s care fees. He says the Council wrongly told him his late father’s care fees would not increase when he moved into a care home. He also says the Council charged his late father for domiciliary care he did not receive, and it continued to charge him when he was in hospital and after he passed away. We find the Council was at fault as it told Mr D the wrong information about his late father’s care fees, and it failed to properly review the outstanding domiciliary care fees. It also did not investigate whether it should conti

Summary: There was a failure by the Council to secure provision in an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan when the NHS did not do so. There was also delay in updating an EHC plan to name a post-16 placement and providing a right of appeal. This led to some special educational provision being missed. There was no fault in failing to secure suitable education during COVID-19 when a place in a school resource centre was made available. The Council will apologise, make a financial payment and implement service improvements.

Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about an inaccurate children service’s assessment. It is unlikely we could achieve a significantly different outcome and the Information Commissioner's Office is better placed.

Summary: We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to prevent flooding from a stream next to the public highway. There is no evidence to suggest that Mrs X could not have complained to us sooner.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to remove a car which Mr X says is abandoned and untaxed. There is insufficient evidence of any fault, or any significant personal injustice to Mr X.

Summary: Mr B complained that the Council is taking too long to find a supported living placement for his son Mr C. We have not found fault with the Council’s actions and noted that several assessments are ongoing.

Summary: Mr X complains the Council’s care provider, Brabyns House, failed to secure his late mother’s possessions after she died, resulting in them being lost or destroyed. Brabyns House accepts it did not act carefully before disposing of the possessions, which had significant sentimental value and cannot be replaced. The Council needs to apologise, pay financial redress and work with Brabyns House to make sure it has procedures in place to prevent this from happening again.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about lack of information provided to Mr B and his deceased parents regarding charges for care. 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 good reason to exercise discretion to investigate this late complaint.

Summary: Mr X complains the Council has not responded to questions he posed in relation to consultation it carried out about a proposed Air Quality Management Area (AQMA). We will not investigate the complaint because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council.

Summary: Ms X complains about the Council’s failure to take planning enforcement action against a neighbour’s decking and summer house. We will not investigate this complaint because there is no evidence of fault by the Council.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council wrongly charged the complainant for council tax. This is because it is not unreasonable to expect her to have used her right of appeal against the Council’s decision on her council tax liability.

Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint the Council is failing to maintain or repair a main road causing danger to road users. Mrs X has an alternative remedy at court which it is reasonable for her to use.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with the complainant’s planning application. This is because the complainant had the right to appeal to the Planning Inspector.

Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council not providing a lunch to her child Y during an activity day.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with the complainant’s application to carry out works to a protected tree. This is because the complainant had the right to appeal to the Planning Inspector.

Summary: There was no fault in the time it took the Council to issue Y’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. The Council delayed for three weeks in formally notifying the school that it had been named in Y’s EHC Plan. This meant Y missed out on around three weeks of education. There was then a further period of delay but that was not because of the actions of the Council. The Council has agreed to pay Ms X £300 to remedy the injustice these delays caused Y. It has also agreed to pay her £100 to acknowledge the uncertainty and frustration this caused her and her husband.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about fees the Council charged the complainant for care. This is because the Council has agreed to cancel the fees.