Brighton & Hove City Council (23 004 931)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 06-May-2024

Summary: Ms X complains the Council failed to provide alternative provision for her daughter, Y from January 2022. Ms X also complains about the way the Council implemented a personal budget. We have found there was a delay by the Council in issuing a final Education and Health Care Plan and fault with its record keeping. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a symbolic payment and service improvements to address the injustice caused. We have found no fault with the way the Council considered alternative provision and the personal budget.

Brighton & Hove City Council (23 011 982)

Statement Upheld Assessment and care plan 13-Jun-2024

Summary: We found no fault with how a Council and NHS Trust completed a best interest decision about a discharge from hospital. We also found no fault with the time it took the Council to complete a care needs assessment. We did find there was service failure that led to a delay in arranging a care package. This prevented Mr Y from returning to his own home sooner. The Council has agreed actions we recommended to remedy the distress and the financial loss caused by the faults.

Brighton & Hove City Council (23 016 795)

Statement Upheld Council tax 16-Jun-2024

Summary: Miss X complains about the handling of her Council Tax accounts by the Council. Miss X also contends that her place of study should otherwise attract a student exemption. We have concluded our investigation having made a finding of fault. We found that the Council did not bill Miss X correctly during her occupancy of Property A and did not correct the Council Tax bill until two years later causing Miss X an injustice. We have not investigated any complaint about Council Tax liability, nor Miss X’s right to a student exemption as it is reasonable for Miss X to appeal these matters to the Valuation Tribunal. The Council has accepted our recommendations.

Brighton & Hove City Council (23 013 280)

Statement Upheld Other 15-Aug-2024

Summary: Ms M complained the Council failed to address her concerns about the adult care services her son, Mr S, receives. The Council is at fault for delay reviewing Mr S’s care plan and failing to carry out a transport assessment.

Brighton & Hove City Council (23 013 772)

Statement Upheld Homelessness 29-Aug-2024

Summary: Mx Y complains the Council mishandled their homelessness application and placed them in unsuitable interim accommodation. The Ombudsman finds fault with the Council’s handling of the homelessness application. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mx Y and pay a financial remedy.

Brighton & Hove City Council (23 020 872)

Statement Upheld Refuse and recycling 18-Sep-2024

Summary: Mr X complained the Council repeatedly missed his assisted bin collection. This has caused his bin to be overloaded and caused Mr X emotional distress. The Ombudsman has found the Council at fault for failing to collect Mr X’s rubbish.

Brighton & Hove City Council (24 001 447)

Statement Upheld Assessment and care plan 22-Sep-2024

Summary: Mrs X complains that the Council failed to comply with the agreed action in the Ombudsman’s final decision for her previous complaint to source a domestic support provider for her. The Council took sufficient action to source a domestic support provider for Mrs X. But the Council is at a fault as it failed to consider if it needed to make reasonable adjustments for Mrs X to complete the paperwork for direct payments. This fault did not cause significant injustice to Mrs X.

Brighton & Hove City Council (24 001 331)

Statement Upheld Assessment and care plan 23-Sep-2024

Summary: Ms X complained about the Council’s decision not to include certain disability related expenditure in its financial assessment, meaning she has to pay more for the cost of her care. We found the Council at fault for how it considered whether a private prescription for Ms X could be included as disability related expenditure. The Council agreed to apologise to Ms X and re-consider whether her private prescription could be included as disability related expenditure.

Brighton & Hove City Council (24 006 553)

Statement Upheld Refuse and recycling 29-Sep-2024

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint the Council failed to pay him £100 it offered following problems with his household waste collection service. This is because the Council has agreed to pay the original amount offered plus an extra £100. This is an appropriate remedy for the identified injustice.

Brighton & Hove City Council (23 018 882)

Statement Upheld Alternative provision 10-Oct-2024

Summary: Mrs D complained the Council did not complete an Education, Health and Care needs assessment for her child within legal timeframes. She also complained the Council failed to provide alternative provision support for them when they stopped attending school. We found the Council at fault for not properly considering its duties for alternative provision. The Council has agreed to our recommendations to remedy the injustice caused.