Durham County Council (25 008 812)

Statement Upheld Other 03-Mar-2026

Summary: We have upheld Mrs X’s complaint about delay at stage two of the children’s statutory complaints procedure. The Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused.

Durham County Council (25 000 486)

Statement Upheld Assessment and care plan 02-Mar-2026

Summary: Miss Y complained about how the Council delayed providing her mother, Mrs X, with a care package, respite care fees and with aids and adaptations to meet her needs. There were some faults by the Council which caused injustice to Mrs X and Miss Y. The Council will take action to remedy the injustice caused.

Durham County Council (24 003 695)

Statement Upheld Charging 25-Feb-2026

Summary: Mr B complained on behalf of his mother, Ms C, that the Trust did not provide suitable rehabilitation in hospital, that the Trust and Council failed to communicate changes to Ms C’s care plan, and that the Council did not communicate with Ms C about charges for care and wrongly charged her. We found fault with how the Council communicated with Ms C about charges, and that this caused uncertainty and distress to Ms C and Mr B. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a symbolic payment, and improve services. We found no fault in the Trust’s actions.

Durham County Council (25 007 651)

Statement Upheld School admissions 13-Feb-2026

Summary: Mrs X complained how the independent appeal panel dealt with her appeal for a school place for her son. We find some fault in the clerk’s notes about the stage one process. This did not cause Mrs X a significant injustice. However, the Council has agreed to our recommendation to implement a service improvement to prevent a recurrence of the fault.

Durham County Council (25 005 117)

Statement Upheld Charging 06-Feb-2026

Summary: Mrs B complains about invoices relating to adult social care support. Mrs B says the Council sent her an invoice late in 2023 and that there were multiple and repeated errors in the invoices from 2024. We have found fault in relation to the late invoice but there were no errors in the later invoices. The Council has agreed to apologise and to carry out a service improvement.

Durham County Council (24 010 112)

Statement Upheld Enforcement 05-Feb-2026

Summary: Mr X complained the Council failed to decide what planning enforcement action it would take after he reported a breach of planning control, and failed to keep him updated despite saying it would. We find the Council at fault for the time it took to decide what enforcement action it would take and for failing to keep Mr X updated. This caused Mr X distress, uncertainty and frustration. The Council has agreed to make a decision by a set date, keep Mr X updated in line with its policy, apologise and make a symbolic payment to remedy the injustice.

Durham County Council (24 012 474)

Statement Upheld Assessment and care plan 05-Feb-2026

Summary: Mr B complained about how the Council and Trust assessed and planned Ms C’s care, and arranged discharge from hospital. We found fault with the way the Council handled Ms C’s care assessment and hospital discharge, causing distress to Ms C and distress and uncertainty to Mr B. The Council agreed to apologise to Mr B, make a symbolic payment, and make service improvements. We found no fault in the Trust’s actions.

Durham County Council (25 004 361)

Statement Upheld Transport 04-Feb-2026

Summary: Ms Y complained the Council failed to arrange transport for her daughter to attend a day centre. We find fault in the Council’s handling of the matter, including poor communication, delay, inadequate consideration of the circumstances, and a failure to properly address the unmet transport and care support needs. This caused ongoing uncertainty and distress for Ms Y. The Council has agreed to apologise, address the outstanding support gap, make a payment to Ms Y, and take action to improve its practice.

Durham County Council (24 023 388)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 17-Nov-2025

Summary: Mrs X complained the Council failed to put in place education for her daughter when she could no longer attend her allocated school and failed to ensure her daughter received the provision in her EHC Plan. There is no fault in how the Council dealt with the education available to Mrs X’s daughter. There is evidence of some of Mrs X’s daughter’s provision not being in place. That meant her daughter missed out on some provision. The apology already offered to Mrs X is satisfactory remedy.

Durham County Council (25 006 810)

Statement Upheld Looked after children 07-Nov-2025

Summary: We will not investigate the Council’s response to Mr X’s complaint about the care provided to him when he was a looked after child. This is because the Council has agreed to review its decision not to investigate his complaint. It would not be proportionate for us to investigate.