LGO Individual Decisions

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the actions of the Council’s Children’s Services officers in relation to the care of the complainant’s children. This is because the complaint is late and there are no grounds for us to investigate it now.

Summary: We have found fault with pressure care management and record keeping by a care home. On balance we do not consider this caused harm, but it has led to uncertainty around pressure care and the speed of recovery. The Council and the care home accepted our recommendations, which included action to address the faults with record keeping and maintaining care plans, and to apologise to the complainant for the distress caused by the uncertainty.

Summary: Miss X complains the Council failed to provide her child, C, with a suitable education and she also complains about C’s final Education, Health and Care Plan issued by the Council. There is no evidence of fault and the law does not allow the Ombudsman to investigate matters from November 2023 because they were subject to a tribunal appeal.

Summary: Mrs X complained the Council failed to provide a suitable education for her child, Y. There was fault with how the Council responded when it knew Y was not attending school in 2023, delayed its decision after a review of Y’s Education Health and Care plan and delayed transferring Y’s plan after Mrs X moved areas. This caused some frustration to Miss X but did not cause any further injustice. The Council agreed to apologise to Mrs X, review its policy and procedures and issue reminders to its staff.

Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s response to incidents related to her child’s school transport. An investigation would not lead to a different outcome and we could not achieve what Ms X wants.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about highway maintenance because any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement and the courts are better placed to deal with the matter.

Summary: Mr X complained that the Council failed to review his daughter’s EHC plan and failed to respond to his communications. We found the Council delayed significantly in completing an annual review of the EHC plan. It has agreed to make a payment to Mr X and to his daughter in recognition of the injustice caused.

Summary: We found fault with the Council’s early referral to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. This fault caused the complainant (Miss X) injustice by her missing out on the review of her complaint by an independent panel and by delaying the resolution of her complaint. The Council has agreed to send a written apology to Miss X and make a symbolic payment to recognise Miss X’s distress.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about inadequate hospice care treatment and alleged failings during a Council safeguarding process. This is because we cannot investigate where the Council is not responsible for actions complained about. Further, the matters we could investigate have been brought to us late and there are no good reasons why we should exercise our discretion and investigate now.

Summary: There was fault the Council delayed issuing its decision after Mr X’s son’s Education, Health, and Care plan was reviewed in 2022 and then again in 2023. Those faults caused Mr X an injustice because of a lost opportunity to appeal to the SEND Tribunal and the avoidable inconvenience he experienced. There was also fault the Council did not do enough to ensure Mr X’s son had suitable offers of education provision in good time, and this means Mr X is now left with avoidable uncertainty about whether his son missed out on education.

Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s failure to provide education and the support needed to meet her child’s special educational needs. Part of the complaint is late. We cannot consider the other parts as the SEND Tribunal has considered or could have considered the matters raised as part of its proceedings.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to communicate with Mrs X before stopping school transport for her children with special educational needs. This is because an investigation would be unlikely to lead to a different outcome.

Summary: The Council acknowledges it failed to provide the appropriate service for Mr and Mrs X’s son B and offers to reimburse Mr and Mrs X for the additional expenditure they incurred paying for private providers in the interim. The Council also failed for a long time to communicate properly with Mr and Mrs X. The Council will also now offer an additional amount to recognise the frustration caused by its delay and lack of appropriate contact.

Summary: Miss X complained that the Council failed to issue an appropriate Education Health and Care Plan in time for her daughter’s transfer to post 16 college. Miss X had a right of appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal, and this prevents us investigating the complaint. We have therefore closed the complaint.

Summary: Mrs X complained the Council failed to review her child’s education, health and care plan properly, failed to provide the provision set out in the plan, and failed to provide alternative education when her child was out of school. She also complained about the Council’s conduct during an appeal. Mrs X said this caused her unnecessary and avoidable distress and frustration. She said the missed education and special provision had an impact on her child. We uphold some parts of Mrs X’s complaint because we find fault causing injustice. The Council will apologise and make a payment to rem

Summary: Mr X complained that the Council failed to carry out a proper risk assessment when it changed his daughter, D’s, care plan and stopped his visits in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He said this resulted in D’s suicide attempt. We find that there was fault in the Council’s decision-making as it did not properly weigh up the risks of transmission of COVID-19 against the risks to D’s mental health. But we cannot say it led directly to D’s suicide attempt. The Council has agreed a suitable remedy.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about an unsuccessful appeal for a school place. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault.

Summary: Mrs X’s daughter, Y missed out on provision set out in her Education Health and Care Plan. The Council was at fault for some of the delays in meeting the provision. The Council agreed to remedy the injustice caused to Y and her family.

Summary: We have upheld this complaint because the Council delayed consideration under the children’s statutory complaints procedure. The Council has now agreed to resolve the complaint by responding to the complainant at stage one of the procedure.

Summary: We cannot now investigate this complaint, about the findings and recommendations made during an investigation under the children’s statutory complaints procedure. This is because the complainant has now started legal action against the Council. We have therefore discontinued our investigation.

Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about what the Council included in an assessment. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. The matters complained of are not separable from the conduct of legal proceedings that we cannot investigate.

Summary: Hampshire County Council delayed for six weeks in completing a review of the complainant’s son’s Education, Health and Care Plan in 2021. This caused injustice in the form of frustration and a delayed right of appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal. The Council will take the recommended action to recognise this injustice

Summary: Ms B complains the person appointed by the Council to carry out a review of her grandchildren’s experience in care is not independent. She believes this will lead to a ‘cover-up’. There is no evidence to suggest the person is unsuitable to conduct the review. We will not speculate about the quality of the review until it is complete. That being the case, it is not possible to find Ms B has been caused an injustice and the Ombudsman’s intervention is not warranted.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the impact a speed bump installed by the Council is having on Mr X’s property. This is because the complaint is late and because Mr X has a legal remedy against the Council which places the complaint outside our jurisdiction.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint alleging corruption in the children’s services department when responding to this complainant’s concerns. This is because we are highly unlikely to add anything more to the investigation already carried out by the Council.