PSOW Individual Decisions

Ms A complained that in February 2024, when she was assisted by Cardiff Council (“the Council”) to complete a housing benefit application, she was not informed that she could not apply, needing to apply for Universal Credit instead. The Ombudsman found that Ms A had been assisted to complete a housing benefit application on 21 February 2024. Further, she had contacted the Council on 2 separate occasions following this. The Council did not make her aware that she could not apply for benefit until her application was reviewed on 13 March 2024. The Ombudsman decided that Ms A had suffered an injustice because she had missed the opportunity to apply for Universal Credit at an earlier date. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without an investigation. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement to, within 2 weeks, offer Ms A an apology and financial redress of£150 for the failure to notify her that she could not apply for housing benefit, thereby delaying her application for Universal Credit.

Ms A complained that she was unhappy with Cardiff Council’s (“the Council”) actions regarding damp and mould in her property. Ms A said that although the Council had undertaken some works, there remained a smell of mould upstairs. The Ombudsman found that the Council had attended the property on several occasions previously but had said that extractor fans would need to be installed in Ms A’s kitchen and bathroom. The works were scheduled for April 2025. The Ombudsman decided that because of the previous works undertaken it was important to get Ms A’s issues resolved. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without an investigation. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement to, within 1 month, provide Ms A with an update following the works completed in April 2025, to carry out an inspection investigating the smell of mould and to provide Ms A with an explanation of whether further works are needed.

Ms A complained that Cardiff Council failed to repair a fault in the roof of the block of flats she lived in as a leaseholder, which had resulted in internal damage to her property. The Ombudsman decided that the Council had completed the roof repairs, but had failed to inform Ms A. However, it had not resolved the internal damage to Ms A’s property which had resulted in her not being able to use one of the bedrooms, or the lights in the kitchen for a prolonged period of time. She decided to settle the complaint without an investigation. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement that within 2 weeks it would write to Ms A setting out what quotes she needed to obtain, where she needed to send them and make a redress payment to her in the sum of £500. Within 2weeks of receiving the quotes the Council would agree the cost of the works, or if the Council determined it was not going to cover the cost write to Ms A clearly outlining its reasons.

Mr B complained about waste management by Cardiff Council. He complained that the Council’s Assisted Lift waste collection service had consistently failed to collect his waste. Mr B also complained that, following investigation of his complaint, the Council had inappropriately changed his waste collection point without appropriate consideration of his needs. The investigation found that there were regular failures to collect Mr B’s waste from his agreed collection point. This complaint was upheld. It was found that the Council has undertaken appropriate consideration of Mr B’s needs when it decided to remove his collection point. This complaint was not upheld. However, if the Council had addressed the issues with the rear lane collection point earlier, this may have meant Mr B would not have experienced a number of years of failed waste collections, frustration and distress. The Council agreed to apologise to Mr B for the missed waste collection, not addressing the cause of the issue earlier and the frustration, confusion and distress this had caused him. It agreed to remind relevant staff of the ability to offer a dedicated email address and single point of contact for residents experiencing difficulties with the Assisted Lift service. It also agreed to review its handling of Mr B’s complaint to identify lessons to be learned.

Miss A complained that Cardiff Council failed to repair a leak in the rainwater downpipe, which passes through the utility room in her property. The Ombudsman noted that the Council had inspected the property to identify the cause of the fault, but it did not inspect the affected room, and the fault remained unresolved. The Ombudsman found that since making her complaint, the Council had arranged for a plumber to attend Miss A’s property to repair the leaking downpipe. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without an investigation. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement to within 1 month, to provide Miss A with a written response to her recent complaint, and to offer Miss A £70 for the time and trouble caused in pursuing the complaint and repairs.

Miss A complained that her Council property was in a poor state of repair. Miss A said that she had reported this to the Council, but repairs had either not been done or had not been completed to a reasonable standard. Miss A also complained that the Council did not respond to her formal complaint. The Ombudsman decided that the Council had not completed the repairs to Miss A’s property and it had not responded to her formal complaint. She decided to settle the complaint without an investigation. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement to apologise to Miss A, issue a response to her complaint, and provide her with a written update detailing the repairs to be carried out and timescale for completion. The Council agreed to complete these actions within 4 weeks of the Ombudsman’s decision.

Mr B complained that he was unhappy with Cardiff Council’s (“the Council”) actions regarding housing repairs to his mother’s property. Mr B said that the Council had resolved most but not all of his issues. The Ombudsman decided that although the Council had undertaken work to resolve some outstanding issues, it had acknowledged that the property should not have been allocated until all of the issues had been resolved. Further, a new complaint had been submitted to the Council in respect of damp and mould in the living room, bedroom and bathroom. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement to, within 2 months, complete a damp and mould inspection, provide Mr B with an update on the findings and the Council’s intended next steps and provide Mr B with an update on works undertaken to date and what works are left to complete, with timescales.

Mrs C complained that Cardiff Council had failed to take action to safeguard Mr A, who is a disabled adult, when he was left unaccompanied by an independent service provider. The Ombudsman decided that the Council had not adequately acknowledged or apologised for the lack of clarity in its communication with Mrs C regarding the safeguarding concerns and had not updated her on the outcome of its enquiries. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without an investigation. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement to write to Mrs C within two weeks to clarify and apologise for its communication regarding the safeguarding concerns and provide an update on the outcome of its enquiries.

Ms A complained that she was unhappy with Cardiff Council’s (“the Council”) actions in respect of housing repairs to her property. The Ombudsman decided that although the Council was undertaking works to resolve Ms A’s concerns, the issues had been ongoing for some time. Further, the Council had recently undertaken asbestos testing within Ms A’s living room but the results had not been received. She decided to settle the complaint without an investigation. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement to advise Ms A of the outcome of the asbestos testing, its intended next actions based on the test result, and inform Ms A of other future planned works for her property, within 1 month.

Miss A complained that in over 5 months, Cardiff Council failed to respond to her request for her complaint about Children’s Services to be escalated to Stage 2 of the Council’s complaints policy. She said the lack of appropriate communication and handling of her complaint, compounded her feeling that she was not being listened to, and that the Service did not care about her welfare, or meeting her ongoing needs. The Ombudsman decided that the Council had failed to adhere to its complaints policy. She said that this caused unnecessary delays and frustration for Miss A. She decided to settle the complaint without an investigation. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement within 1 month, to offer Miss A an apology and £150 redress in recognition of the delays and lack of communication in the handling of her complaint, and within 2 months to provide a Stage 2 complaint response.

Mr M complained that Cardiff Council had failed to appropriately respond to a complaint he made to it about charges for work completed to a driveway. The Ombudsman found that the Council’s complaint response had failed to advise Mr M what stage of the procedure it was being issued under or how he could escalate his concerns further. Furthermore, Mr M responded to the email he received, but the inbox is not monitored. He therefore did not receive a response to his ongoing concerns. The Ombudsman said this caused him frustrated and she decided to settle the complaint without a formal investigation. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement to apologise to Mr M for the complaint handling issues, explain the reason/s his email did not receive a response, offer a £50 redress payment, and to issue a further complaint response within 2 weeks. The Council also agreed to remind all staff that deal with complaints that they must advise complainants of their next steps in the complaints process, and to remind all staff that use the complaints email address to advise recipients that the inbox is not monitored within 4 weeks.

The Ombudsman received a complaint about Cardiff Council’s response to Shared Regulatory Services (SRS) finding that a Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA) was causing a statutory noise nuisance and that the noise caused by the Council’s MUGA was having a substantial effect on the complainant’s life. The Ombudsman found that the Council had not responded appropriately to SRS’s conclusions and had not taken appropriate action to abate the statutory noise nuisance. The Ombudsman found that this caused frustration and inconvenience to the complainant. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint by asking the Council to take action to ensure that the statutory nuisance is abated.

Mr A complained about Cardiff Council’s response to Shared Regulatory Services (SRS) finding that a Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA) outside his property was causing a statutory noise nuisance. He also complained that the noise caused by the Council’s MUGA was having a substantial impact on his life. The Ombudsman found that the Council had not responded appropriately to SRS’s conclusions and had not taken appropriate action to abate the statutory noise nuisance. The Ombudsman found that this caused frustration and inconvenience to Mr A and decided to settle the complaint without an investigation. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement to do the following: Within 4 weeks, the Council should: 1. Apologise to Mr A for not taking appropriate action following the SRS noise report and for not abating the statutory noise nuisance caused by the MUGA. 2. Offer Mr A £300 redress for the inconvenience caused. Within 8 weeks, the Council should: 3. Take action to ensure that the statutory nuisance is abated. 8 weeks after this letter, the Council should: 4. If the statutory nuisance is not abated within that period, the Council should pay Mr A £75 per week for as long as the cause of the statutory nuisance remains.

Mr B complained that Cardiff Council had failed to answer his questions in its complaints response. The Ombudsman found that the Council had failed to address Mr B’s questions in its response which caused him frustration and inconvenience. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without an investigation. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement to apologise to Mr B for not addressing the questions and to provide a response that addresses all the questions within 4 weeks.

Mr B complained that scheduled works to replace his floor were being continually cancelled. He complained that he had raised the issue initially in February 2024 and chased the Council on multiple occasions since then. The Ombudsman found that Mr B had chased the Council on numerous occasions and that he had been without adequate flooring from 27 June until 15 November 2024. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without an investigation on the basis that within 1 month of issuing the decision letter the Council will: 1. Apologise to Mr B for the delays in completing the work and inconvenience caused by not having a floor from 27 June until 15 November 2024. 2. Award £300 financial redress in line with the policy for delays to repairs.

Ms A complained because she was unhappy with the repeated issues she was experiencing with waste collection through Cardiff Council’s assisted lift scheme. Ms A submitted video footage in support of her complaint. The Ombudsman found that on 7 occasions between 24 October 2024 and5 December 2024 Ms A’s waste was either only partially collected or not collected at all, despite the Council’s assurances that action had been taken to resolve the issues. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement to provide Ms A with an apology, an explanation of steps taken to ensure her waste is collected correctly and financial redress to the sum of £100 for the inconvenience caused, within 4 weeks.

Mr A complained that, following an independent investigation, Cardiff Council (“the Council”) had not fully met the recommendations outlined in the investigation report. This included a full response to outstanding questions about decisions made, producing a plan for contact with Mr A’s children and action taken to improve management of complaints and communication by the service. The Ombudsman’s assessment found that, although some of there commendations outlined in the investigation report had been met, there were outstanding actions. The Council had not provided a response to Mr A’s questions or about action taken to improve management of complaints and communication by the service. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement to the following actions, within 3 weeks, as an alternative to a formal investigation: · Provide Mr A with a full written response to his questions regarding decisions made and evidence for this. · Provide Mr A a response to include the specific action that will be taken following the considerations for improvements to the management of complaints and communication by the service.

Mr P complained that Cardiff Council’s refuse and recycling crew failed to return his bin sacks to the correct collection point on collection days. The Ombudsman found that the Council was aware that this was an ongoing issue for Mr P. She said this caused frustration for Mr P. She decided to settle the complaint without an investigation. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement to write to Mr P, within 2 weeks, to apologise and explain the actions it will be taking to resolve the issue.

Ms A complained about the action taken by the Council to address housing repairs required in her property following the collapse of a bedroom ceiling. Although the Council took action to address the work required for the bedroom, Ms A raised concerns about the safety of other ceilings in her property and delays to address this. The Ombudsman’s assessment found that, although the Council had taken action to inspect and repair the bedroom ceiling, there were delays with identifying additional work required to address requirements for the bathroom ceiling. The Ombudsman considered that this may have caused unnecessary additional disruption. Ms A had not received a full response, including an explanation and apology, from the Council for this delay. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement to the following actions, within 4 weeks, as an alternative to a formal investigation: • Provide Ms A with a full response and apology for the delay with identification and action taken for the required works to the bathroom ceiling. • Make a redress payment in the sum of £250 to Ms A for the delay with taking action to address all required repairs and the additional disruption caused by this.

Ms A complained that she reported repairs to Cardiff Council, but they were not completed. She said that there was a leak from the Council retained property above, which had resulted in black mould or damp, a crack to the ceiling and falling plaster in her property. Ms A also complained about the handling of her formal complaint by the Council. The Ombudsman decided that the Council had not completed the repairs and it had not provided a satisfactory response to her formal complaint. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement to issue an apology to Ms A for the delay in completing the repairs and handling of her complaint, and to complete the outstanding repairs. The Council agreed to complete these actions within 4 weeks.

Miss B complained that Cardiff Council had failed to respond to her complaint concerning Special Guardianship allowance. The Ombudsman found that the Council had failed to issue its Stage 1 response in line with the Social Services Complaints Process. This caused additional frustration and uncertainty for Miss B. She decided to settle the complaint without an investigation. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement to issue its complaint response, which should include an explanation and apology for the delay, and oversight, within 20 calendar days of the Ombudsman’s decision.

Mr A complained that Cardiff Council had not resolved the damp and guttering issues at his property. The Ombudsman found that the Council had been aware of the issues with the guttering for many years and that these issues were the main cause of the damp issues in the property. The Ombudsman said that this caused inconvenience to Mr A and had affected his health. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without an investigation. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement to, within 2 weeks: • Apologise to Mr A for the delays in resolving the damp and guttering issues in his property. • Arrange a priority appointment with Mr A to carry out the necessary work to fix the guttering issues. The Ombudsman also sought and gained the Council’s agreement to, within 1 month: • Offer Mr A £500 redress for the inconvenience caused.

Ms Q complained that she had been without a gas supply to her property since she moved in, in July 2024. Ms Q also complained that Cardiff Council (“the Council”) was not responding to her service requests to fix the gas supply. The Ombudsman found that Ms Q had raised numerous complaints to the Council and that there were avoidable delays in dealing with her service request. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without an investigation on the basis that within 1 month of issuing the decision letter the Council will: 1. Make a £300 time and trouble payment for the delays in responding to the service request. 2. Nullify Ms Q’s rent for the duration of time that she was without a gas supply to her property.

Mrs X complained that Cardiff Council failed on several occasions to collect her Assisted Lift (“AL”) waste collections in line with its AL policy. The Ombudsman concluded that the Council had failed to maintain regular AL waste collections, and despite a previous complaint, had failed to monitor the collections. The Ombudsman said this caused uncertainty, frustration, and inconvenience to Mrs X. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without an investigation. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement that within 3 weeks of the Ombudsman’s decision, it will write to Mrs X to apologise for the inconvenience she has suffered, and provide written assurances that the matter will be logged and monitored by its Collections Team Manager for the next 3 months.

Mr Q complained that Cardiff Council has not resolved the illegal parking on his street which is causing him inconvenience when driving down his street and being able to park. The Ombudsman found that Mr Q had raised 3 formal complaints since June 2024, but the Council had failed to respond to these in line with its complaint process. The Ombudsman said this caused additional frustration and uncertainty to Mr Q. She decided to settle the complaint without an investigation. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement to write to Mr Q, within 3 weeks, in line with the process to explain what actions it has so far taken, and the additional action it intends to take to resolve the issues.