Other

Newcastle upon Tyne City Council (18 006 038)

Statement Not upheld Other 27-Nov-2019

Summary: Mrs X complained about poor workmanship by Council contractors making improvements to her property. She says there are still unresolved issues related to the works and the matter has caused her distress. The Council is not at fault.

London Borough of Newham (19 004 327)

Statement Not upheld Other 30-Oct-2019

Summary: Mrs B complains the Council has asked her to repair or replace a wall at her own cost that the Council considers to be potentially dangerous. Mrs B says the Council should pay half the costs and the Council has not followed the correct legal process. We find the courts are in the best position to decide the matter. So, we have ended our investigation.

Broxbourne Borough Council (19 001 511)

Statement Upheld Other 22-Oct-2019

Summary: Mr B complains the Council failed to take effective action to deal with an overcrowded property next to his own which was also a source of anti-social behaviour. We uphold the complaint finding examples of poor customer service in how the Council responded to Mr B's contacts. We consider these caused Mr B injustice as distress and putting him to unnecessary time and trouble. The Council accepts these findings and has agreed to apologise to Mr B and pay him a financial remedy of £400.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council (19 001 378)

Statement Upheld Other 11-Sep-2019

Summary: The Ombudsman found no fault by the Council on Mr D's complaint of it failing to properly investigate his report of a possible conflict of interests of 2 of its officers under its employee code of conduct. The Council properly investigated it. There was poor record keeping as it failed to provide evidence of the officers notifying and obtaining consent to start their business. The fault caused no significant injustice.

Wokingham Borough Council (18 011 001)

Statement Upheld Other 10-Sep-2019

Summary: Ms B complains that the Council misled her as to when it would pay a discretionary housing loan to help her secure a new private rental property. She says this caused her to incur considerable additional costs when moving home and considerable stress. The Ombudsman considers that the apology the Council has already provided, and a review of its procedures represent a suitable remedy for any injustice caused to Ms B.

South Norfolk District Council (19 004 740)

Statement Upheld Other 04-Sep-2019

Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about a conversation the complainant overhead. This is because the Council has provided an appropriate response.

London Borough of Waltham Forest (19 000 692)

Statement Upheld Other 05-Aug-2019

Summary: Ms X complained about how the Council provided support to her and her son after they became homeless. There was fault causing injustice when the Council failed to assess the needs of Ms X and her son, placed them in unsuitable temporary accommodation and lost Ms X's personal property. The Council has apologised and paid Ms X £200. It agreed to make an additional payment of £500 to remedy the injustice caused.

London Borough of Newham (18 018 750)

Statement Upheld Other 26-Jul-2019

Summary: There was no evidence of fault in the Council's deduction of outstanding rent arrears from an agreed settlement, relating to the loss of the complainant's belongings. The Ombudsman has not investigated a complaint about the loss of the belongings, because it is made too late. For this reason, the Ombudsman has completed his investigation.

London Borough of Wandsworth (18 018 343)

Statement Upheld Other 23-Jul-2019

Summary: Mr B complains that the Council's Telecommunications Provider damaged his home. The Council was at fault because its Telecommunications Provider installed cabling to Mr B's home outside of its agreement with the Council and without permission. The Telecommunications Provider has admitted it made a mistake and has offered to remove the installed cabling or to engage with Mr B to agree a solution. This is an adequate remedy.

London Borough of Brent (18 016 187)

Statement Not upheld Other 12-Jul-2019

Summary: Miss X complained about the suitability of temporary accommodation and the amount of times she had to move from one temporary accommodation to another between 2012 and 2019. She said the Council breached conditions of a supervision order which said it should liaise with another Council to accommodate her nearer her support network. The Council was not at fault. The supervision order expired in 2013 with no such condition attached to it. The Council followed the correct process when it moved Miss X to different temporary accommodation and dealt with her concerns appropriately.