Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council (24 008 972)

Statement Upheld Cemeteries and crematoria 05-May-2025

Summary: Mrs K complained the Council did not cut the grass in a cemetery, causing it to become overgrown and inaccessible. She also complains the Council did not respond to her complaint about this. We consider the fact the Council did not cut the grass to be service failure, and that there was fault because it did not respond to Mrs K’s complaint. It has agreed to apologise to her for this and offer her a remedy payment for her time and trouble.

Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council (24 003 794)

Statement Upheld Antisocial behaviour 12-May-2025

Summary: Mr X complained the Council failed to ensure his neighbour maintained the trees and bushes in their front garden. We find no fault in the Council’s handling of the high hedges matter itself. However, there was a significant delay in responding to Mr X’s complaint. The Council has apologised and offered a suitable payment to Mr X, which is a satisfactory remedy for the injustice caused.

Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council (23 017 962)

Statement Upheld Allocations 28-Jul-2025

Summary: Ms X complained about the way the Council handled her housing register and homelessness applications meaning she had to spend longer in unsafe accommodation. She also complained about its complaint handling. We have not found the Council at fault for the way it handled Ms X’s housing register application but we have found the Council at fault for not considering whether Ms X was homeless on the basis her property was not reasonable to occupy. We have also found the Council at fault for its complaint handling. To remedy the injustice caused the Council agreed to apologise to Ms X and make a payment for the distress caused.

Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council (24 017 836)

Statement Upheld Refuse and recycling 28-Sep-2025

Summary: Mr X complains on behalf of his Mother Ms Y, that her assisted bin collections are not being carried out. We find fault with the Council for poor communication. We have suggested a financial payment for the frustration and distress caused.

Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council (25 008 564)

Statement Upheld School transport 21-Nov-2025

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s decision not to provide his child with free transport to school. The Council has accepted it was at fault because it did not invite Mr X to his final stage appeal hearing. The Council has offered to arrange a fresh hearing, and this is an appropriate remedy.

Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council (24 017 980)

Statement Upheld Building control 25-Nov-2025

Summary: Mr X complained the Council failed to progress his complaint about a building control breach in a timely manner. The Council took over two years to make any meaningful progress on Mr X’s complaint. This is fault and caused Mr X undue distress, uncertainty and frustration. The Council agreed to apologise to Mr X and make a payment to recognise the distress caused by the delay. We have also made a service improvement recommendation to reduce the risk of reoccurrence.

Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council (25 005 166)

Statement Upheld Other 23-Dec-2025

Summary: Mr A complained that a care coordinator, working for an integrated mental health and social care service, failed to support his son to apply for Universal Credit. We have not found fault by either the responsible Council or NHS Trust. However, we have found fault in how both organisations responded to Mr A’s complaint. Neither would accept responsibility for it at first. Both organisations have agreed to apologise, take corrective action and make a financial payment to address the injustice this caused Mr A.

Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council (24 022 868)

Statement Upheld Allocations 12-Jan-2026

Summary: Mr D says the Council placed him in the wrong housing band. There is fault by the Council in some parts of the complaint including delay responding to review requests. The Council is already making service improvements, and it has now agreed to apologise to Mr D and respond to his outstanding complaint which challenged a review decision on banding.

Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council (24 017 177)

Statement Upheld Refuse and recycling 21-Jan-2026

Summary: There was fault by the Council. The Council failed to reply to a stage 2 complaint and did not tell staff of the location of refuse bins when routes were reorganised, leading to missed collections. An apology, a symbolic payment for the distress and monitoring future collections remedies the injustice.

Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council (24 020 246)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 02-Feb-2026

Summary: Miss X complained about delays by the Council in reviewing her child’s Education, Health and Care Plan and its failure to provide a suitable education for them when they could not attend a school. We found the Council was at fault for not completing the review on time and for its complaint handling, which caused injustice to Miss X and her child. However, we found there was no fault in how the Council considered its duty to secure alternative education provision for Miss X’s child. The Council has agreed to apologise to Miss X and her child to remedy their injustice and make changes to its service to prevent the same fault happening to others.