LGO Individual Decisions

Summary: Miss X complained about the way the Council handled the child protection process for her daughter, Y, which Miss X said caused significant distress for her and meant Y was exposed to further harm. The Council was not at fault.

Summary: It was for the Council to decide whether to suspend indoor collections of bulky waste, because of concerns about the spread of COVID-19. The Council should have ensured it made an assessment of the likely impact of this suspension on disabled people, but this did not cause a direct injustice to the complainant. There was an injustice to the complainant caused by the delay and confusion in the Council’s complaint handling, which it has now agreed to remedy. We have therefore completed our investigation.

Summary: A tenant complained about the Council’s failure to rehouse him and its lack of support in the five years he has been on its housing register, despite his serious mental health issues. But we do not have grounds to investigate the complaint because there is not enough evidence that fault by the Council has caused the man a significant injustice.

Summary: We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about damage caused to Mr X’s property arising from the Council’s alleged failure to clear gullies on the public highway. It is reasonable to expect Mr X to go to court to decide any liability owed by the Council.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to close the complainant’s housing application. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

Summary: Miss X complains about the Council’s failure to resolve disrepair problems with her temporary accommodation year, its decision to end its homelessness duty and failure to take account of her disability and vulnerability. There was fault in the Council’s handling, some of which has caused Miss X injustice. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to Miss X. It will also provide further training and guidance to relevant staff on the importance of offering and making reasonable adjustments.

Mrs B complained the Council failed to provide appropriate support to meet her daughter’s (Ms C’s) care and support needs following problems with her care provider. The Council delayed completing a safeguarding investigation into concerns about the care provision, and victim blamed Ms C in the outcome of the safeguarding investigation. The Council produced an action plan which it failed to follow, which further compounded the distress to Mrs B and Ms C and allowed poor service to continue for many years. Because of the problems with care services, and lack of appropriate support, Ms C could no

Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council pruning trees on the grass verge outside her property. There is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.

Summary: The Ombudsman found fault by the Council on Ms J’s complaint about its failure to take enforcement action against noisy neighbours. It failed to provide us with complete records, show it considered and reached a decision on her acoustic report, and failed to show whether officers properly considered and reviewed the case after witnessing two breaches of an abatement notice. The agreed action remedies the injustice caused.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about council tax support and single person’s discount. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

Summary: Mr X complained about the outcome of his home to school transport appeal for his son, which is causing the family financial difficulty. We find the Council is at fault. The Council’s appeal panel failed to consider all the evidence Mr X provided. We recommended it apologise to Mr X and offer him a fresh appeal hearing.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to refuse his application for a business rates discount brought in to help businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This is because the issue concerns a matter of professional judgement and there is no evidence of fault affecting the Council's decision.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision not to renew the complainant’s Blue Badge. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

Mrs X complained about high levels of light intrusion into her property after the Council replaced a

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how Mrs X’s mother was treated in a care home leading up to her death. This is because it is a late complaint and there are no good reasons for us to investigate it now.

Summary: There was no fault in the way the Council decided to grant planning permission to Mr B’s neighbour for a first-floor balcony.

Summary: We stopped investigating Miss X’s complaint about how the Council considered whether to award priority on the housing register. This is because changes in Miss X’s circumstances since she complained mean there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by further investigation.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about how the Council managed his allotment payment. It is late and there are no good reasons he did not complain sooner.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about an unsuccessful application for a Blue Badge. This is because the Council will do a face-to-face to mobility assessment and it is unlikely an investigation would lead to a different outcome.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of a housing application. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to provide alternative education provision for a child out of school because we have already considered that matter. We will not investigate the Council’s failure to pay travel costs for the child to attend his residential placement between 2018 and 2019. This is because these events happened too long ago, and I see no reason why they could not have been raised sooner.

Summary: Mr F complains about the Council’s decision to refuse his application for a blue badge. Following contact from the Ombudsman the Council reviewed Mr F’s case and has now issued him with a badge. We are satisfied this remedies the injustice he was caused.

Summary: Mr D complained the Council has failed to take appropriate action when he raised concerns about air and noise pollution from idling buses near to where he lives. We find the Council was at fault as it failed to consider its duties under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. The Council has agreed to our recommendations to address Mr D’s injustice.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to respond to Ms X’s complaint about matters dating back to 2017. This is because the complaint is a late complaint, and we will not exercise discretion to investigate it now.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of Mr X’s housing application priority. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.