LGO Individual Decisions

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to charge the council tax empty homes premium. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her claim for compensation following damage to her vehicle and personal injury which occurred when she hit a pothole in the road. This is because it would be reasonable for Miss X to make a claim against the Council at court.

Summary: We cannot investigate Mrs X's complaint the Council did not name a school, or suitably consult with schools, when it issued an Education, Health, and Care Plan. Nor can we investigate her complaint the Council delayed providing alternative provision for her son when they were not at school. Mrs X has appealed the Council’s decision to the SEND Tribunal and her complaints are not separable from her appeal about the content of an Education, Health, and Care plan. Therefore, the law says we cannot investigate.

Summary: Mr C complains the Council provided inaccurate charging information for residential care, and wrongly refused an application for a deferred payment agreement. The Council is at fault for failing to properly advise Mr C of charges and payments it was willing to make. This caused him stress, time, and trouble. To put things right the Council has agreed to apologise to Mr C, make him a symbolic payment, and make service improvements.

Summary: Ms C complains the Council delayed in completing an Education Health and Care (EHC) plan and failed to provide full time education to X. The Council is at fault for delays in the EHC plan process and providing suitable education. This meant X did not receive the education she needed and caused distress to Ms C and her family. To put things right the Council has agreed to make a symbolic payment to X and her family and make service improvements to prevent future reoccurrence.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s involvement in court proceedings. The law prevents us from doing so.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Education, Health and Care plan process. This is because the Council has agreed to an appropriate remedy for the injustice caused by the delay.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Council tax because it affects all or most of the people of the area.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council assessed the complainant’s Council Tax Reduction in 2017. This is because it is a late complaint, and the complainant could have used his appeal rights.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about an alleged data breach as this is best dealt with by the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Summary: We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint that her car was damaged due to the Council’s failure to repair a large pothole. This is because it is reasonable for Mrs B to take the Council to court.

Summary: Mr X complained the Council failed to follow its complaints procedure when dealing with his complaints about a disabled facilities grant for his parents or make reasonable adjustments

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about a tree on a neighbouring property. There is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.

Summary: Miss B complained that the Council delayed in issuing an amended Education, Health and Care Plan following an emergency review in November 2022, communicated poorly with Miss B and failed to provide C with any alternative education when he stopped attending school at the end of April 2023. We found fault with the Council. It has agreed to apologise to Miss B, pay her £3,300 and improve its procedures for the future.

Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the enforcement of a penalty charge notice as the court at the Traffic Enforcement Centre has refused to accept Mr X’s case against it.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s care of a Looked After Child. The Council has agreed to investigate the complaint through the statutory children’s complaints procedure. It would not be proportionate for us to investigate.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the actions of a social worker before Miss X’s son travelled to another area alone without permission. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant our further involvement.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council’s children’s services wrote a biased assessment. This is because the complaint is made late, and I see no good reason to exercise discretion and investigate the issues raised now.

Summary: Mrs B complained the Council delayed in completing an Education, Health and Care assessment and failed to meet the statutory timeframe for issuing an Education, Health and Care Plan for her child, X. Mrs B says this caused distress for X and the family. We have found the Council at fault. The Council has agreed to provide staff training and make a payment to remedy the injustice caused by the faults identified.

Summary: Mrs M complains the Council delayed its assessment of her son’s Education, Health and Care needs. It also gave confusing advice and delayed funding 1:1 care her son’s nursery said he needed. And it did not copy her into all communications, as she had requested. We uphold the complaint. The Council has agreed to our recommendations.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of planning and noise control issues relating to public events which take place at a venue in Mr X’s locale. This is because past events fall outside our jurisdiction due to the passage of time and we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council sufficient to warrant an investigation in relation to more recent events.

Summary: Mrs X complained the Council has delayed in carrying out an Education, Health, and Care needs assessment and in issuing a EHC Plan for her son. The Council’s delay in the EHC Plan process and in issuing a final Plan are fault. This fault has caused Mrs X an injustice which the Council has now remedied.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s recovery of unpaid council tax by taking action in the magistrates court and involving enforcement agents. The matter has been subject to court proceedings and the Ombudsman has no jurisdiction to investigate.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s consideration of a potential child protection matter. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant our further involvement.

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