LGO Individual Decisions

Summary: Mr X complains about the Council’s failure to act on his complaint about overgrown tree branches made six years ago. We will

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s refusal of Miss X’s application for discretionary housing payment. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

Summary: The Council is at fault for delaying its response to Mr X’s request to remove a barrier blocking access to his land. The Council has agreed to apologise and pay Mr X for the distress caused by its fault.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s administration of its school admission procedure. This is because there is no evidence of fault on the Council’s part.

Summary: Mr X complained the Council failed to tell either he or his mother what his mother owed for client care contributions when she sold her house. Mr X complained the Council waited until after his mother’s savings fell below the upper £23,250 threshold to advise of the debt owed to the Council. The Ombudsman does not find fault with the information the Council provided to Mr X or his mother. But, the Ombudsman does find fault with the Council failing to consider the debt as part of its financial assessment. The Council agreed to the Ombudsman’s recommendation to complete a reassessment o

Miss X complained the Council failed to meet the assessed social care needs of her two children between July 2020 and January 2022. Miss X said the Council’s faults meant F and G lost out on a significant amount of care and development during this period.

Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about children service’s actions. We are unlikely to achieve a significantly different outcome than she has already achieved.

Summary: The Council’s refusal to consider Ms X’s complaint about how it protected her when she was a child is fault. The Council has agreed to apologise, pay Ms X £200, investigate her complaint, and take action to improve its services.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about contractual matters. This is because the courts are better placed to consider the complaint.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the time taken for the Council to answer a phone call. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. An investigation would not add anything to the response the complainant has already received.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council responded to a Subject Access Request. This because the complainant can complain to the Information Commissioner.

Summary: We will not investigate Miss B’s complaint that the Council is at fault in refusing her appeal for a school place for her daughter. This is because there is no evidence of fault on the Council’s part.

Summary: The Council has proposed a suitable remedy for Ms X’s complaint about the care provided to her mother.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about delay in determining a planning application as there is a right of appeal to a Planning Inspector.

Summary: Ms X complains about the way the Council dealt with a review and reassessment of her daughter’s Education Health and Care Plan. The Council has accepted it was at fault. It has already apologised to Ms X and offered a payment in recognition of the delays and Ms X’s time and trouble in pursing her complaints. We consider it a suitable remedy in this case and so are completing our investigation.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about fees charged by the Council for Ms X to buy the freehold to her property. Ms X entered freely into the purchase and as such, we cannot say the injustice she claims arises from any Council fault.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a missed household waste recycling collection and poor complaint handling. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. The injustice to the complainant from the missed collections is not significant enough to warrant an investigation and we will not look at complaint handling as a standalone issue.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the conduct of a Council officer at a school attendance meeting in 2019. There is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate now.

Summary: Mrs G complained about the way the Council dealt with the interment of her mother’s ashes. She complained the Council excavated the wrong place in the family plot. An officer then threatened her and tried to cover the matter up. The Ombudsman finds fault in the way the Council responded to Mrs G’s complaint. The Council has agreed to our recommendations.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to recover a Council Tax liability at court and its decision not to attend court. We cannot investigate complaints about the start of court action or what happened in court. Miss X has used her right of appeal to the Valuation Tribunal Service.

Summary: The Council is at fault for delaying consideration of this complaint under the children’s statutory complaints procedure. The Council has agreed to make a payment to the complainant for the time and trouble its delay has caused

Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of the complainant’s daughter’s needs. This is because he has used his right to appeal to a tribunal and this places the matter outside our jurisdiction.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X's complaint about the Council’s special education needs team’s actions. We will not get involved with the Tribunal’s actions and it is unlikely we would find fault in the Council’s decision to consult the child’s mother.

Summary: Mrs G complained the Council failed to complete her son’s EHC Plan within the statutory timescales and secure his special educational provision. She also said it communicated poorly with her. The Council agreed it was at fault and provided a remedy to Mrs G. We found the Council’s remedy was not enough. It agreed to make a further payment to acknowledge the distress its faults caused Mrs G and her son’s loss of educational provision.

Summary: Mrs B complains the Council has not properly completed a safeguarding enquiry. The Council is not at fault.