LGO Individual Decisions

Summary: The Council was at fault for the time taken to issue an Education, Health and Care Plan for Ms X’s child and for not putting in place suitable education when the child was out of school. This meant the child had to wait much longer than they should for support with their special educational needs and missed out on education they should have received. To remedy the injustice caused the Council agreed to apologise, make payments to recognise the loss of education, special educational provision and delays issuing an Education, Health and Care Plan. The Council also agreed to carry out a

Summary: Miss X complained how the Council handled her housing application. She says it failed to take proper account of her partner’s medical information and his circumstances. We find the Council was at fault for its failure to ask Miss X for clarification when it received contradictory information about the gender of her children. This caused Miss X frustration and upset. The Council apologised to Miss X, activated her housing application and backdated her registration date. This is sufficient to remedy her injustice. We do not recommend anything further.

Summary: Miss X complained the Council failed to provide her child, Y, with special educational provision when she was unable to attend school and it delayed in completing a review of Y’s Education, Health and Care Plan. We find the Council at fault for a delay in completing the annual review and for failing to consider its duty to provide the special educational provision detailed in Y’s Education, Health and Care Plan. This caused Y and Miss X distress, uncertainty and frustration, delayed Miss Y’s right to appeal and impacted Y’s access to education. The Council has agreed to apologise and

Summary: We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about the actions of a social worker during the Councils involvement with his family. The law does not allow us to investigate matters which have been subject to court proceedings.

Summary: Mr X complained about a delay providing his relative Ms Y with additional care and about fault in the financial assessment for her care charge. The Council is at fault. It took too long to make Ms Y’s direct payment available to her after revising her care and support plan to include extra care. The Council made an incorrect statement about Ms Y’s mobility vehicle which caused avoidable distress. The Council will apologise and make a symbolic payment.

Summary: Miss X complained the Council failed to complete a review of Y’s Education, Health and Care Plan in line with statutory time limits and failed to arrange alternative provision while he was out of school. The Council was at fault causing uncertainty and frustration, and meaning Y missed out on educational provision he was entitled to. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to reflect the injustice.

Summary: We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council charging a landlord for improvement works identified in 2024. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner.

Summary: There was fault by the Council because it failed to involve Mr X when it received child safeguarding allegations about his daughter Y. This caused avoidable distress and uncertainty about the actions and decisions the Council might have made had it involved Mr X. The Council will apologise, make a symbolic payment and complete training to front line staff around best practice for engaging and working with fathers.

Summary: Miss X complained the Council failed to adhere to the statutory timeframes for issuing her child, Z’s, Education, Health and Care Plan, and it failed to provide Z with access to suitable education. We find the Council at fault for a delay in issuing a final Education, Health and Care Plan and a delay in securing suitable education. This caused distress and frustration for Miss X and significantly impacted Z’s access to education. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a symbolic payment to Miss X and ensure it has a robust section 19 referral process in place available to any staff

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint the Council provided contradictory information about his direct payment. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about housing allocations. There is insufficient evidence of fault to justify investigating.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about delays completing a lease. Some of the complaint is late without good reason to investigate it now. It is unlikely we could achieve much more by investigating. Some points are more properly for the courts to decide.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about delays in the Education Health and Care needs assessment process.

Summary: We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint about historic failure to provide suitable equipment to her during her time in education or for failing to make safeguarding referrals. The issues Miss X complained about related to Miss X’s school, not the Council, and the law says we cannot investigate.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council shared inaccurate information about him. This is because the Information Commissioner is better placed to deal with the matter.

Summary: We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the content of her child’s Education, Health and Care Plan including the named school, or how the Council delivered education to Y. This is because Mrs X appealed to a tribunal, and the law says we cannot investigate.

Summary: Mr X complains the Council wrongly issued him with a Fixed Penalty Notice for littering. We have ended our investigation as the Council cancelled the Fixed Penalty Notice which was the outcome Mr X was seeking.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s refusal to backdate Council tax reduction.

Summary: Miss X complained the Council wrongly pursued her for fourteen Penalty Charge Notices incurred by a vehicle she no longer owned. Miss X said the Council actions caused her significant worry and distress. The Council failed to fully consider representations and evidence provided and pursued Miss X for PCNs she evidenced she was not responsible for. The Council complaint handling was poor. This frustrated and distressed Miss X and she was put to time and trouble to complain. The Council will apologise, make a financial payment and provide guidance to relevant staff.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr Z’s complaint about how the Council responded to his safeguarding concerns and carried out a Child and Family Assessment. There is not enough evidence of fault and an investigation is unlikely to lead to a different outcome.

Summary: Mrs X complained the Council failed to complete her son’s Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment and comply with the Tribunal’s order within the statutory timeframe. She also complained the Council communicated poorly with her. We found fault by the Council on all the matters we investigated. The Council agreed to apologise and make a payment to Mrs X and Y to remedy the injustice caused to them.

Summary: Mr X complains the Council failed to deal with disrepair issues properly, leading to avoidable distress and financial loss. We found the Council is at fault because it delayed dealing with Mr X’s complaint. Mr X suffered delay. The Council has already offered Mr X £300 which is an appropriate remedy.

Summary: The Council was at fault for failing to provide Mrs X’s child, Y with the special educational provision they were entitled to in their Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to recognise Y’s loss of education as well as the distress, frustration and uncertainty caused by this. The Council was also at fault for failing to provide Y with the education mentor it agreed. This did not cause Y an additional injustice as there was no education in place for the mentor to assist with.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr F’s complaint about his dealings with a Council Officer in connection with his son’s return to school because it is too late.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council followed its safeguarding procedures. The complaint is late and there are no good reasons to investigate now.