LGO Individual Decisions

Summary: Mrs F complained about how the Council has handled her homelessness. The Council has accepted there was a delay in placing Mrs F in temporary accommodation. This caused Mrs F distress whilst she was awaiting eviction. The Council has already made a symbolic payment to remedy this injustice.

Summary: Mrs X complains the Council closed her Council Tax account in 2015, refunded her some of the money she paid and told her her landlord was liable for the payments. Mrs X complains the Council then later billed her for Council Tax payments between 2013 and 2022. Mrs X says the Council took legal action to recover the costs without notifying her. Mrs X says this caused her a great deal of distress and she has incurred a debt of around £9,000. We have found the Council at fault for failing to act sooner on information regarding Mrs X’s property which impacted on the Council Tax due. The C

Summary: Miss X complained that the Council failed to provide education for her son when he had no school place. We find some fault resulting in the complainant’s son missing alternative education and causing Miss X avoidable frustration and time and trouble. We have recommended a way to remedy this injustice, which the Council has accepted. Therefore, we have completed our investigation and are closing the complaint.

Summary: Mr X complained the Council has charged Mrs Y for more care hours than she received each week. He also complained that the care provider did not provide the agreed level of support. We found the errors and lack of clarity in the way the Council billed Mrs Y is fault. As was the failure to ensure Mrs Y consistently received the agreed level of care. These faults have caused Mrs Y and Mr X an injustice. Mrs Y did not receive the care she needed and had paid for. The Council will apologise and make payments to Mrs Y and Mr X. It will also review Mrs X’s care charges and its monitoring ar

Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s response to his reports about the unsuitability of his temporary accommodation. We have found fault by the Council, causing injustice, in failing to: properly consider whether Property A was suitable accommodation; notify Mr X of his right to request a review; respond to complaints about disrepair and suitability; and its delay completing the review. The Council has agreed to remedy this injustice by: apologising to Mr X; making a payment to recognise the impact of living in unsuitable accommodation; providing an update on its action to move Mr X to

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Mr X’s application to buy his Council home as the Council is not directly responsible for Mr X’s lease only having 11 years remaining. There is no worthwhile outcome achievable.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Council’s decision to recover historic council tax debt. This is because

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Mr X’s personal information made available on a public register by the Council. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault.

Summary: We have found the Council at fault for delay and poor communication in relation to Mr X’s homelessness case. This caused Mr X uncertainty and frustration. The Council has agreed to remedy Mr X’s injustice.

Summary: Mrs B complains about the Council’s assessment of her son’s eligibility for a disabled facilities grant. We have found fault sa there was a delay in the provision of adaptations which have still not been provided and there was fault in the decision-making process. The Council has agreed to review the decision, pay a financial remedy and carry out a service improvement.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of Mr X’s offer to buy back his property. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating and the complainant could have gone to the District Valuer about part of his complaint.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about highway repair and maintenance because it is reasonable to expect Miss Y to approach the courts who are better placed to consider the complaint.

Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the evidence the Council relied on to issue two PCNs. Ms X has already paid for the PCNs thereby accepting liability. There is insufficient fault in the process to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.

Summary: We cannot investigate Miss B’s complaint that her home has been damaged due to the Council’s failure to maintain one of its properties. This is because we cannot investigate complaints about the management of social housing by a council acting as a social landlord.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Ms X’s council tax account. This is because the Council has already taken suitable action.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Housing allocations. The Council have offered a suitable remedy.

Summary: We will not investigate Ms X and Ms Y’s complaint about their mother, Ms Z. Due the length of time which has passed, we are unlikely to be able to reach reliable conclusions or achieve meaningful outcomes for Ms X, Ms Y and Ms Z.

Summary: We found fault on Mr Y’s complaint about the way the Council dealt with his reports of his neighbour breaching planning consent. It failed to let him know what action, if any, it was taking on his report. It also failed to ensure his case suffered no delay when an officer it was assigned to left. The Council agreed to send Mr Y an apology for the injustice caused by its failings. It also agreed to review procedures to ensure those making reports are kept updated at key stages and of decisions. It will also act to ensure cases are not left to drift due to staff changes or absence.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision Mr X was not in priority need for housing. It would have been reasonable for Mr X to ask the Council for a review of its decision under homelessness legislation. Additionally, we will not investigate Mr X’s remaining complaint about the Council’s delay in offering interim accommodation. There is not enough evidence of fault to warrant our involvement.

Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of an appeal against a penalty charge notice. This is because Mr X has used his right to challenge the Council’s escalation of the case at court.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of its housing duties. Some of the complaint is late. For the remainder, Miss X did not use her appeal rights and there is not enough evidence of fault in the Council not allocating her a property.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the unsuitability of Miss X’s accommodation. This is because we could not add to the investigation carried out by the Council. Miss X now has the right to appeal to the County Court regarding the suitability of her accommodation.

Summary: The Council has accepted that it failed to provide the special educational provision for the complainant’s brother. We agree with the Council’s findings, but we considered the Council had not fully recognised the injustice caused by the loss of education for the brother and avoidable distress to the family. The Council has now agreed to make a symbolic payment for this injustice. We are therefore closing the complaint.

Summary: Mr D complains the Council delaying making a direct offer of accommodation. I have found the Council followed the correct process. There was some minor delay which did not result in a significant injustice.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about fees the Council pays a private fostering agency. Further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.