Birmingham City Council (23 010 362)

Statement Upheld Private housing 09-Apr-2024

Summary: There was fault the Council did not consider whether a property was reasonable for a tenant to remain in occupation, during the period Mr X was seeking possession of the property. That fault caused Mr X an injustice. The Council has agreed to carry out my recommendations to remedy that injustice.

Birmingham City Council (23 010 903)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 22-Apr-2024

Summary: Ms X complains the Council has not dealt properly with her son Y’s Special Educational Needs (SEN). The Council did not hold an annual review properly and delayed paying invoices. Ms X had to spend time and trouble chasing payments. The Council should apologise and pay Ms X £100 for time and trouble and review its invoicing systems/processes.

Birmingham City Council (23 002 398)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 23-Apr-2024

Summary: Miss X complains the Council failed to make sufficient education provision for Y. The Council is at fault as it failed to consider if it had a duty to provide alternative education provision for Y and record that decision. But this fault did not cause injustice to Y. The Council is also at fault as it delayed in progressing arrangements for mentoring support for Y and delayed in dealing with Miss X’s complaint which caused disadvantage to Y and distress to Miss X. The Council has agreed to apologise to Miss X and Y and to make a symbolic payment of £300 to Y to acknowledge the injustice caused to him.

Birmingham City Council (23 019 891)

Statement Upheld Refuse and recycling 24-Apr-2024

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council failing to provide a replacement pod insert for the complainant’s recycling bin. The Council has now taken satisfactory action to address the complaint.

Birmingham City Council (23 011 101)

Statement Upheld Other 28-Apr-2024

Summary: There was fault by the Council in how it handled Mrs X’s temporary accommodation charges. It credited housing benefit to the wrong accounts, its communications with her were unclear, it did not always respond properly to her contact, and it took too long to respond to her complaint about this. The Council’s shortcomings have caused Mrs X and her family distress, confusion, and frustration, and have put her to unnecessary time and trouble trying to resolve the issues. I have recommended the Council take action to remedy the impact on her.

Birmingham City Council (23 007 109)

Statement Upheld Disabled facilities grants 06-May-2024

Summary: Mr X complained the Council had not completed its Occupational Therapy assessment after his request for an extra toilet in 2022. He said this impacted his family’s health. There was fault in the way the Council did not complete the assessment within a reasonable timescale. The delay frustrated Mr X and he spent time with the uncertainty of not having a response to his application. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a financial payment.

Birmingham City Council (23 005 377)

Statement Upheld Council tax 12-May-2024

Summary: Dr X complains about Council Tax Liability and how the Council handled her Council Tax account. We have concluded our investigation having made a finding of fault. The Council has acknowledged that its communication with Dr X could have been clearer and caused avoidable distress. The Council has offered a fair and proportionate remedy.

Birmingham City Council (23 014 971)

Statement Upheld Refuse and recycling 23-May-2024

Summary: Mrs X complained that although her mother, Mrs Y should receive assisted collections the Council has repeatedly failed to collect her household waste and recycling. Mrs X also complains that when the Council does empty Mrs Y’s bin, it does not return it correctly to Mrs Y’s property. The Council’s repeated failure to make regular assisted household waste and recycling collections, and to return Mrs Y’s bin correctly is fault. This fault has caused Mrs X and Mrs Y an injustice.

Birmingham City Council (23 009 170)

Statement Upheld Homelessness 23-May-2024

Summary: Miss X complains the Council has failed to urgently rehouse her. The Council is at fault as it failed to offer temporary accommodation to Miss X when it accepted the main housing duty. It also failed to consider the risk to Miss X when deciding if it should award band 1 priority which will have caused some avoidable uncertainty to her. But these faults did not cause significant enough injustice to Miss X to warrant seeking a remedy for her.

Birmingham City Council (23 014 498)

Statement Upheld Highway repair and maintenance 30-May-2024

Summary: Mr X complains the Council has failed to carry out its duty to install Public Right of Way signs in the local area. The Ombudsman finds fault with the Council for the service failure in the implementation of the signs. The Council has agreed to apologise, pay Mr X a financial remedy and carry out service improvements.