Medway Council criticised for not reviewing school transport policy properly Medway Council has been criticised by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman for failing to review its home to school transport policy following an earlier complaint. That complaint involved the council not providing school transport to a girl whose mother chose to send her to a school which was not her nearest q ...

Maidstone council tried to charge for reviewing housing application decisions The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has uncovered an unusual charging policy during an investigation into a housing complaint about Maidstone Borough Council. A man, who has disabilities, complained to the Ombudsman that the council wanted to charge him £75 to appeal its decision about joining its housing reg ...

City of Wolverhampton Council to improve its adoption recruitment process Wolverhampton council has agreed to ensure its adoption recruitment procedure adheres to statutory guidance, following an Ombudsman investigation. The move has come following a woman’s complaint about the way she was assessed and rejected for adoption by an agency acting on the council’s behalf. The Ombudsman found the agen ...

Derby girl misses out on education because of council delays The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has criticised Derby City Council after a girl with autism missed out on around 18 months of special education support because of council delays. The girl was diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder in 2015 and was experiencing increasing anxiety, which eventually led to her refusing to g ...

Council fails to carry out financial assessment following Ombudsman investigation North Yorkshire County Council has failed to carry out a financial assessment it had agreed to undertake following an earlier upheld complaint to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. The council had agreed to complete the disability related expenditure assessment of a young woman, to include her housing a ...

Redbridge council continues to fail man with severe learning disability The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman is this week issuing two separate reports into the way London Borough of Redbridge has failed the family of a 20 year old man with Special Educational Needs. In a rare move, the Ombudsman is publishing the two reports on the same day to highlight the repeated problems the family ...

Essex County Council to reconsider assessment of Disability Related Expenses The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found Essex County Council at fault in how it considered two separate women’s Disability Related Expenses (DREs). The women both have Court Appointed Deputies to make decisions about their financial affairs, because their disabilities mean they can not do this for themse ...

Daventry District Council fails to tackle industrial noise complaint properly Some homeowners on a new housing development in the Daventry area have been plagued by excessive noise from a nearby industrial estate because the district council has not done enough to investigate their concerns, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman reports. The Ombudsman was asked to investigate the concern ...

Council asked to repay father’s nursery fees following ombudsman investigation Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Council has been asked to partially reimburse the fees a father paid while his daughter was receiving free nursery care, after the Ombudsman found it did not ensure a company was providing transparent invoices. The child attended nursery, with some of the hours being paid for by ...

Child at risk of gang violence because of council failings A four-year-old child was placed at risk of gang violence because Croydon council did not do enough to check on them and their mother when their uncle was released from prison and allowed to live with them, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found. The child’s young mother left foster care in 2016 shortly after her 18th bi ...