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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Staffordshire council missed multiple deadlines reviewing girl’s special needs plans Staffordshire council’s consistently poor administration of a county teen’s special educational needs plan left her college unable to properly support her, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found. The girl, who has autism spectrum disorder and physical disabilities, moved to a new college from he ...

London council failed to review its support for disabled children Councils should respond to all recommendations made during independent complaints investigations, says the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman after it upheld a mother’s complaint about London Borough of Waltham Forest. The issue is being highlighted after the mother of a disabled child asked the Ombudsman to investigate the ...

Ombudsman annual review highlights widening cracks in council complaints systems The ‘widening cracks’ in local government complaint handling are being highlighted in the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s annual review of complaints 2020-2021, published today. Over the past year, the Ombudsman has upheld a greater proportion of investigations – 67% – than ever before. This continues an ...

Somerset council took too long assessing disabled woman’s care needs Somerset County Council has been criticised by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman after taking too long to assess a vulnerable woman’s care needs. The Ombudsman’s investigation found the council took 21 months to carry out a reassessment of her needs. The reassessment also failed to address questions about who would ...

Bexley council failed to learn from previous school transport complaints London Borough of Bexley has been heavily criticised by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman after it failed to make agreed improvements to the way it decides school transport applications for children with disabilities. While the council implemented some of the changes, the Ombudsman still has concerns about the c ...

Council wrongly instructed enforcement company to destroy fast food trailer A Barnet street food trader has been left significantly out of pocket after the council wrongly instructed its nuisance vehicle enforcement company to destroy his pizza van when it was reported abandoned, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found. The council made no attempt to get in touch with the owner w ...

Monthly News March 2021 23 Mar 2021 Woman left to die alone in Surrey care home 18 Mar 2021 Ombudsman issues guide for dealing with children’s statutory complaints 16 Mar 2021 Council agrees to refund care costs for some people in short-term residential care 11 Mar 2021 Council fails to investigate children’s services complaints properly 09 Mar 2021 Boy with Special Educational Needs missed out o ...