LGO Individual Decisions

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision not to resurface a road. There is insufficient evidence of fault that would justify an investigation.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a planning application. This is because we cannot yet determine if the complainant has suffered significant injustice as a result of the alleged fault.

Summary: The Council was at fault, because it did not offer the complainant’s mother an affordable care home placement, before asking her to pay a top-up towards her mother’s fees. This meant the top-up arrangement did not adhere with the statutory guidance. The Council has agreed to remedy the injustice this caused, by reimbursing the complainant the money she should not have paid.

Summary: Ms X complained the Council decided to approve a planning application behind her property without fully considering the impact of traffic, flooding and building on green belt land. Ms X also complained the Council failed to consult residents in a fair and impartial manner. The Ombudsman does not find fault with the Council’s decision-making or consultation over the planning application. The Ombudsman does find fault with the Council for the delay in handling Ms X’s complaint but does not consider this caused Ms X a significant personal injustice.

Summary: I have stopped investigating the complaint. The Council has agreed to reinstate Miss X’s weekly waste collections. This is a suitable remedy for the alleged injustice and further investigation will serve no useful purpose.

Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint that the Council delayed in finalising her brother’s care and support plan. That is because the Council has now finalised his plan and agreed to pay Miss X £200, for the avoidable uncertainty and distress caused by the delay. Therefore, further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint that his car was damaged due to the Council’s failure to maintain the highway. This is because it is reasonable for Mr B to pursue his compensation claim by taking the Council to court.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s actions in connection with the removal of a tree. This is because it is unlikely we would find fault on the Council’s part.

Summary: Mr X complains about the service of a summons by the Council for unpaid council tax, which he disputes. We will not investigate this complaint because there is no evidence of fault and there is a right of appeal to a Valuation Tribunal for liability disputes.

Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to place her children on a child protection plan. We cannot consider the merits of the Council’s decision where there is no sign of fault in the process by which it was reached.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council falsely accusing Mrs Y of threatening behaviour. We could not add to the Council’s investigation, and we could not achieve a worthwhile outcome for Mrs Y.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about an alleged overpayment of fostering allowance. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault on the Council’s part to warrant the Ombudsman’s intervention.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s bin staff not returning empty bins to the collection point. The injustices claimed are not significant enough to warrant us investigating. Mr X has not complained to the Council about missed bin collections. We do not investigate matters which have not first been through a council’s internal complaints process.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the alleged actions of a Council officer in 2020. The complaint was made late, and there is not a good reason Mr X did not complain to us sooner.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to refuse the complainant’s appeal for a school place for his daughter. This is because there is no evidence of fault on the Council’s part.