Complaint outcomes: Other topics

This section covers complaints about:

• Cemeteries and crematoria, such as burial plots, crematoria management and condition of graveyards
• Consumer affairs, such as trading standards, trades description and consumer advice
• Contracts and business matters, such as contracts, tendering (but not the sale of land - see land below) Many complaints about these issues are outside the Ombudsman's jurisdiction
• Disposal on death, such as the treatment of a dead person or their possessions
• Drainage, such as drains, sewers, cesspits, septic tanks, flood prevention
• Land, such as:
  • sale and disposal of land
  • purchase of land
  • sites for travellers and gypsies
  • compulsory purchase
  • conveyancing and land searches
  • commons and village greens
  • council-owned land (including empty and abandoned sites)
• Leisure and culture, such as:
  • allotments and parks
  • community centres and youth clubs
  • libraries and museums
  • sport facilities
  • tourism
• Licensing, such as:
  • licences for alcohol, caravan sites, care homes, gambling, public entertainment and sex shops
  • licensing for council-owned premises
  • markets and street traders
  • taxis and private hire vehicles
• Registry services, such as:
  • registration of births, marriages and deaths
  • weddings and civil partnerships
  • treasure trove

Recent cases in this category are shown below.

North Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council (08 020 384)
The Council told a man he was barred from Council meetings without considering all the relevant factors.

19 May 2010

Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council (06C15879 and one other - Further report)
The Council refused to apologise and pay compensation to two allotment holders whose complaints had been upheld by the LGO.

25 February 2010

Liverpool City C (08 012 171)
Failures in the tendering process for a large contract “exposed the Council to significant risks”.

25 November 2009

Portsmouth City Council (07B14737)
The Council advertised ice cream concessions for a 12-month period, but then granted licences to the successful bidders for three years, unfairly depriving another bidder of a business opportunity for two years.

09 December 2008

Basildon District Council (06A16993 + two others)
Refusal to remedy injustice to three families caused by the publication of sensitive information about children.

12 November 2008