LGO Individual Decisions

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a breach of planning control. This is because the complainant had the right to appeal to the Planning Inspector.

Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about council tax charges. This is because part of the complaint is late, and for more recent matters there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about council tax for a property which is uninhabitable. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault for an investigation, Mr X can appeal to a tribunal about the uninhabitable decision and there is not enough injustice regarding later complaints.

Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about a Councillors’ misconduct after the sharing of confidential information. There is not enough of evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a planning application. This is because we are unlikely to find fault.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about how the Council handled a complaint about high hedges and its decision to take enforcement action. This is because there is a right of appeal to the Planning Inspector that it is reasonable for him to use.

Summary: Mrs X complained about the Council’s failure to take prompt enforcement action against her neighbours’ breach of planning permission. We found the Council to be at fault because it allowed the case to drift and so took too long to act. This caused Mrs X avoidable frustration, time and trouble. To remedy this injustice, the Council has agreed to apologise to Mrs X, made a symbolic payment and improve its customer service.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council allegedly misleading the public about plans for a local regeneration project during a public consultation process. This is because the plans are yet to materialise and there is no evidence to suggest the complainant has suffered a significant and personal injustice when these have yet to be approved.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about an alledged failure by the Council to maintain public areas, including parks, woodlands and highways. This is because there is insufficient evidence the complainant has directly been caused a significant enough injustice to warrant investigation.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr C’s complaint that his property is in the wrong council tax band. This is because we cannot investigate the banding decision made by the Valuation Office Agency. Also, the Council is not at fault for using the band provided by the Valuation Office Agency.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision not to award a Discretionary Housing Payment. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a planning application. This is because the complainant has not suffered any significant injustice as a result of the alleged fault.

Summary: Miss X complains about the way the Council dealt with her when she was homeless as it charged her storage costs and a charge for her accommodation causing distress and financial loss. We found no evidence of fault by the Council in the way it dealt with Miss X’s homelessness application and charged her for storage costs. But we found fault in the way the Council dealt with a rent in advance loan as it does not have an updated written policy explaining how it will implement the scheme for temporary accommodation. I have recommended the Council draws up such a policy as a suitable servi

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council assessed a prior approval application to change an agricultural building to homes. The complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. There is not enough evidence of fault in the way the Council determined the application.

Summary: We will not investigate Miss A’s complaint about a damaged food waste bin. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

Summary: Mrs X complains the Council have not sufficiently investigated her concerns regarding nuisance from a business allowed to operate without planning permission. We have discontinued our investigation because the Council has an open investigation where it is considering the existence of a statutory nuisance, and it would be appropriate to allow the Council to conclude this first. If Mrs X is not happy after the conclusion of the Council’s investigation, she can make a new complaint to the Ombudsman.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the shared accommodation the Council arranged for Miss X when she became homeless. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify our investigating.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about drainage because the courts and insurers are better placed to consider the issue.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council refusing to publish a wildlife report submitted as part of a planning application. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. The Information Commissioner is better placed to consider whether the report should be made available, and the complainant has not suffered a significant injustice as the planning application has been refused.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a planning application. This is because we are unlikely to find fault. The complainant has also not been caused significant injustice in relation to his concerns about the development not being subject to a Community Infrastructure Levy.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of reports made to it about Mr X having bonfires. This is because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about changes to the parking permit system. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and we cannot achieve the outcome the complainant would like.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council’s Monitoring Officer dealt with a complaint about the conduct of a local councillor. This is because we are unlikely to find fault.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s introduction of a charge for its garden waste collection service and the amount of the charge as the issues affect ‘all or most’ of the people in the Council’s area. It is unlikely we could get to the bottom of what happened when the Council first introduced the charge so long after the event and we do not consider the matter has caused Mr X significant injustice. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s response to his information request as it would be reasonable for him to take the matter to the Inform

Summary: Mr X complains about the Council’s handling of planning matters which have affected his late mother’s property. We will not investigate the complaint because part of the complaint is late and therefore falls outside our jurisdiction and there are insufficient grounds to warrant an investigation of ecology enforcement matters.