LGO Individual Decisions

Summary: Mrs X complained the Council failed to provide suitable education for her son for the academic year which commenced in September 2024. She says he lost out on education because of this issue. We found the Council at fault, which caused Mrs X and her son injustice. The Council agreed to apologise and make payment to remedy the injustice caused.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a planning application. This is because the complaint is late.

Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about a report that the Council presented to a court. The law prevents us from investigating what happens during court proceedings.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about an exception to a council tax second home premium. This is because it was reasonable to expect Mr X to appeal.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about road maintenance because any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

Summary: We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about a school and its head teacher, nor the actions of the Council dealing with his correspondence and complaints to it about these matters.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council followed its safeguarding procedures in late 2023. The complaint is late and there are no good reasons to investigate now.

Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s Section 7 court report. The law prevents us from investigating what happens as part of court proceedings.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the contact arrangements in place for his child. This is because these are matters that have been decided by the courts. If Mr X believes the Council are in breach of a court order it is reasonable for him to raise this in court.

Summary: Miss X complains the Council took too long to complete her daughter Y’s EHC needs assessment and failed to arrange any education for Y after she stopped attending school. We found the Council was at fault for significant delay, failing to arrange suitable education while Y was out of school, and poor record-keeping and complaint handling. This caused Y a prolonged loss of education and caused Miss X distress, uncertainty and avoidable time and trouble. The Council has accepted our recommendations.

Summary: We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to grant planning permission. This is because Mrs X has exercised her appeal rights.

Summary: Mrs C complained the Council failed to meet the statutory timeframe for completing an Education, Health and Care needs assessment for her child. We find the Council at fault for a delay in issuing the final Education, Health and Care Plan. This caused Mrs C uncertainty, distress and frustration and delayed her right to appeal. The Council has agreed to make a symbolic payment to Mrs C to remedy the injustice caused.

Summary: We have discontinued our investigation. Part of Mrs X’s complaint about how the Council decided her son’s special educational needs support is outside our jurisdiction, either because it is too old or because it was a matter for the SEND Tribunal instead. The rest of Mrs X’s complaint is premature, and the Council must be given a reasonable opportunity to fully respond before we would have the power to investigate the complaint.

Summary: We have upheld this complaint about the Council’s failure to complete an Education Health and Care Needs Assessment for the complainant’s child within the statutory timescale. The Council has agreed to provide a proportionate remedy and this removes the need for us to investigate.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to grant a residential property a licence to operate a dog business. This is because an investigation would be unlikely to result in finding fault with the Council’s actions.

Summary: The Council failed to secure the special educational needs provision in Mrs X’s child, Y’s, Education, Health and Care Plan following a Tribunal order in March 2024. It also failed to respond to Mrs X’s complaint. This caused Mrs X distress, frustration and uncertainty and meant Y missed out on the provision in their Plan. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to Mrs X.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of Mrs X’s son’s Education, Health and Care needs assessment. This is because the Council has apologised to Mrs X and agreed to pay her £200, and this provides a suitable remedy for the complaint.

Summary: Miss X complained the Council did not provide her child with a suitable education for three years. She says this caused her child to miss out on education and impacted their wellbeing. We find the Council at fault which caused injustice. We are satisfied the remedy offered by the Council remedies the injustice caused.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response after Miss X reported disrepair and hazards at the property she rented. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council, or of fault causing a significant injustice to Miss X. It is also unlikely we could achieve any meaningful outcome.

Summary: the Council has offered an appropriate remedy for the delay issuing an education, health and care (EHC) plan for Ms M’s son, and the distress it caused. We are satisfied with the Council’s offer and will not, therefore, investigate Ms M’s complaint.

Summary: Ms X complained the Council repeatedly missed her daughter Ms Y’s household waste collections and failed to resolve the issues despite repeated reports. The Council delivered a poor service, failed to resolve reported issues, and issued a poor response to Ms X’s complaint about this. This caused avoidable distress to Ms Y because of a loss of service, and avoidable distress, time, and trouble to Ms X in complaining on her behalf. The Council agreed to apologise, pay a financial remedy to Ms Y and Ms X, and monitor Ms Y’s bin collections to resolve any issues. It will also issue staff

Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about delay in the Council notifying her of her mother’s care charge arrears. This is because the likely fault has not caused significant injustice.

Summary: Miss X complained that the Council failed to secure provision listed in Y’s Education, Health and Care Plan between September 2023 and November 2024. We do not find the Council at fault.

Summary: Miss E complained she had been asking the Council for years to provide her with an education, including a package of education out of school. The Council kept ignoring her. It delayed its complaint response. We uphold the complaint. Because of the fault Miss E did not receive the contents of her Education, Health and Care Plan. The Council has agreed to apologise and make Miss E a symbolic payment.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of his request for housing assistance. There is insufficient evidence of fault and it is unlikely an investigation would lead to a different outcome or achieve anything more.