LGO Individual Decisions

Summary: The Council was at fault for delaying assessing Ms X for adaptations to her property. As a result Ms X has not been able to wash properly and has had to wait much longer than she should for the Council to agree to adaptations. To remedy the injustice caused the Council agreed to apologise to Ms X, make a payment to her to recognise the delays she experienced and carry out a service improvement.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to withdraw its offer to buy Mr X’s home. This is because an investigation is unlikely to find fault with the Council’s actions.

Summary: We cannot investigate Miss Z’s complaint about how the Council handled disrepair in her council home. 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 a dispute over council tax liability. Mr X has the right to appeal the Council’s decision to the Valuation Tribunal.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about parking provision, as we could not achieve a worthwhile outcome if we did.

Summary: Miss X complained about the way the Council dealt with her housing. The Council was at fault for delaying in completing a medical assessment, failing to complete a review of her priority need and poor communication. This caused Miss X frustration and uncertainty. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a payment to Miss X for the frustration and uncertainty this caused and make service improvements.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to remind Mr X that his residents permit was due to expire resulting in him being issued with a penalty charge notice. This is because there is no worthwhile outcome achievable if we investigated.

Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to refuse her application for a blue badge for her son, Y. This is because there is no sign of fault by the Council.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s delay in progressing a penalty charge notice. This is because the matter has not caused Mr X significant injustice.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to refuse Ms X’s application for medical priority and eligibility for an extra bedroom. There is insufficient evidence of fault and injustice to justify an investigation.

Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s refusal of her application for a parking bay near her home because there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

Summary: There was fault by the Council. There is no evidence the first Education, Health and Care Plan was sent to the family and no annual review was carried out in 2023. There was also delay sending a final Plan after the 2024 annual review. This caused uncertainty, as Mrs X will never know if Y’s inclusion in the classroom could have been improved. The Council had already apologised and put in place procedures to improve the service before the complaint was considered by the Ombudsman. A symbolic payment remedies the distress caused to Mrs X and her family from the uncertainty.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about how the Council managed his housing application. This is because the complaint relates to events that took place more than 12 months ago therefore his complaint is late. There is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate these matters.

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

Summary: We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint that he suffered injuries after falling over a large unauthorised and poorly lit boulder next to a public footpath. This is because it is reasonable for Mr B to pursue his compensation claim by taking the Council to court.

Mrs X complained about the Council’s failure to secure her child’s Education, Health and Care Plan provision and failure to provide alternative educational provision following their exclusion from school. I ended this investigation because Mrs X started Judicial Review proceedings against the Council about the same issues.

Summary: Miss X complained about how the Council dealt with her brother’s (Mr X) housing register and homelessness applications. We found fault with its handling of both matters. The Council agreed to apologise to Mr X, reconsider its decision not to backdate his housing register application and make him a payment in recognition of the injustice caused to him. It also agreed to check its records to see if Mr X would have been the first placed bidder on any suitable properties offered by the Council between January 2024 and August 2025, when Mr X’s bidding number was activated.

Summary: Mrs X complained about the Council’s failure to complete a robust statutory complaint investigation, including the failure to secure advocacy, complete a carer's assessment or about the Child In Need Plan. I have ended this investigation because Mrs X started Judicial Review proceedings against the Council about the same issues. We investigated the Council’s complaint handling delays at Stage one and Stage two of the statutory complaints process under a previous investigation. The remaining delays do not present a significant enough personal injustice to Mrs X to justify investigation

Summary: We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint about a Parking Charge Notice and enforcement action. This is because she pursued a court remedy.

Summary: Mr X complained the Council failed to properly allocate address numbering to a development and about how it dealt with his complaint. We have found delay and poor complaint handling causing Mr X frustration and uncertainty. The Council agreed to apologise and make a symbolic payment to Mr X and take action to resolve the issue and avoid a recurrence.

Summary: Miss X complained about the Council’s failure to secure a specialist teacher as set out in her child’s the Education, Health and Care Plan. We found the Council at fault and the lack of a specialist teacher was distressing for Miss X and caused uncertainty for her child. To address that injustice, the Council agreed our recommendations to apologise to Miss X and make a symbolic payment of £400.

Summary: We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council unfairly issued him with six Penalty Charge Notices. Mr X used his right of appeal to a tribunal, so we have no power to investigate.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council organised supported living for Mr X. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to warrant our involvement.

Summary: Ms X complained about the Council’s delays in dealing with her homeless application. We have ended our investigation into Ms X’s complaint because it is late, and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to investigate it.

Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Education, Health and Care Plan process for Mr X’s children. This is because Mr X has appealed to the Tribunal. This places the matter outside our jurisdiction.