Bristol City Council
Annual statistics ?Find out more about annual statistics
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Complaints upheld
83% Complaints upheld by Bristol City Council
83% of complaints we investigated were upheld.
This compares to an average of 79% in similar authorities.
35 upheld decisions
View upheld decisionsAdjusted for Bristol City Council's population, this is
7.3 upheld decisions per 100,000 residents.The average for authorities of this type is
4.6 upheld decisions per 100,000 residents.Statistics are based on a total of 42 investigations for the period between 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024
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Compliance with Ombudsman recommendations
100% of cases were successfully implemented by Bristol City Council
100% of cases we were satisfied the Council had successfully implemented our recommendations.
This compares to an average of 100% in similar authorities.
Statistics are based on a total of 23 compliance outcomes for the period between 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024
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Satisfactory remedies provided by the Council
14% Complaints with satisfactory remedy provided by Bristol City Council
In 14% of upheld cases we found the Council had provided a satisfactory remedy before the complaint reached the Ombudsman.
This compares to an average of 13% in similar authorities.
5 satisfactory remedy decisions
Statistics are based on a total of 35 upheld decisions for the period between 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024
View all satisfactory remedy decisions
Annual letters
We write to councils each year to give a summary of the complaint statistics we record about them,
and their performance in responding to our investigations.
Reports ?Find out more about reports
In the last nine years, the Ombudsman has published the following reports against Bristol City Council
City council censured for complaints response
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has heavily criticised Bristol City Council for failing to provide evidence it had completed previously agreed recommendations in two separate complaints.
Homeless family left to live in hotel rooms for three years by Bristol City Council, Ombudsman finds
A family, including children with disabilities, shared a single hotel room for more than three years because Bristol City Council did not treat their housing and homelessness applications properly, a Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigation has found.
Service improvements ?Find out more about service improvements
Since April 2018, the Council has agreed to make the following improvements to its services following an Ombudsman investigation. We list up to 10 cases below – click ‘view all’ if there are more.
Case reference: 24 014 400
Category: Benefits and tax
Sub Category: Council tax
- Improve internal guidance or undertake staff training to ensure accurate and consistent advice on council tax liabilities, particularly in relation to HMOs and exemptions.
Case reference: 24 007 625
Category: Environment and regulation
Sub Category: Refuse and recycling
- Carry out a review of the issues Mrs X has had with her assisted collections, (to cover at least the last 12 weeks) and determine the cause of the issues.
- Work with provider B to review its waste collection monitoring arrangements to ensure they are robust and effective in identifying and resolving any problems and in improving service levels.
- Ensure the review and associated action plan, is considered monthly at the contract meetings between provider B and the Council. Ensure this takes place over the next 12 months to enable a meaningful period of monitoring.
Case reference: 24 005 216
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Allocations
- The Council will send a reminder to officers about the need to consider whether a housing applicant has exceptional circumstances which warrant inclusion on the direct offer list and to ensure decisions about that are communicated to the housing applicant.
Case reference: 24 004 556
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- The Council failed to arrange the Occupational Therapy provision in the final Education, Health, and Care Plan for a full year. It agreed to review what happened in this case and produce an action plan, with dates, of steps it needs to take to prevent similar issues in future. As part of this review, it will specifically consider:if there were avoidable delays in searching for an Occupational Therapy provider which should be addressed by changes to administrative processes, or staff training; andif there are steps it should take to address any issues with Occupational Therapy capacity in its area.
Case reference: 24 003 802
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- The Council will share this decision with staff, and remind relevant staff to be alert to concerns that an EHC Plan is not fully implemented, so the Council can be certain it is meeting its duty to make sure the provision is made.
Case reference: 24 002 934
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Homelessness
- Provide guidance to staff about who or what team they need to contact to arrange for the storage of a person’s possessions.
- Develop a policy or guidance for staff setting out the correct way interim and temporary accommodation should be ended. The Council should ensure it sets out:a.The correct notice a person should receive depending on the type of accommodation they occupy. b.Whether there is a need to apply to court for possession and eviction. c.How those who have stayed in the same accommodation after the main housing duty has been accepted should be treated.
Case reference: 24 002 809
Category: Education
Sub Category: Alternative provision
- Provide guidance to staff to consider any action required under the Council’s statutory duties when it becomes aware of non-attendance at schools, and to record all actions, communication and decision making as part of this consideration.
Case reference: 24 002 303
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Homelessness
- The Council has agreed to share a copy of this decision with staff in the relevant departments to share the learning and the good practice highlighted by this case.
- The Council has agreed to identify and implement a process to enable the Council to pick up and deal with time-sensitive cases when an officer is off sick or on leave.
- The Council has agreed to remind staff responsible for responding to complaints that they should keep complainants informed of any delays and provide a new, realistic, deadline response for a response.
- The Council has agreed to remind staff responsible for responding to complaints that where the Council upholds the complaint, it should consider what it needs to do to remedy the injustice caused to the complainant.
Case reference: 24 001 418
Category: Planning
Sub Category: Enforcement
- The Council is at fault for severe delay in deciding whether to take enforcement action. The Council has agreed to carry out a lessons learned exercise from the complaint to identify the reasons behind the severe delay in its planning enforcement. The Council will then incorporate the findings into the its existing improvement plan for Planning Enforcement and Development Management.The Council has agreed to share its progress against its planning and development improvement plan with the Ombudsman.
- The Council has agreed to share the Ombudsman's decision with the relevant overview and scrutiny committee as part of its existing planning and development improvement plan reporting and share the record of the meeting with the Ombudsman.
Case reference: 23 018 628
Category: Environment and regulation
Sub Category: Refuse and recycling
- The Council were at fault because it did not update it's amended waste collection services on its electronic timetable that would allow customers to check when collections were due. It agreed it would identify any process changes it needed to put in place before it made any further changes to avoid confusion in the future.
Last updated: 4 April 2015