Case Ref: 23 007 613 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• The Council will review what happened to the Council’s records when the previous housing team was disbanded to ensure problems with record keeping and access to records is not repeated in any future restructure and identify any areas for improvement.
• The Council will remind staff completing reviews of the ongoing suitability of temporary accommodation they should be completed within eight weeks of the request.

Case Ref: 23 005 264 Category: Benefits and tax Sub Category: Housing benefit and council tax benefit

• Provide training and guidance to staff to ensure that requests for benefit appeals to be passed to Tribunal are actioned.
• Provide training and guidance to staff to ensure that complaints are responded to within the appropriate timescales in its complaint’s policy.

Case Ref: 23 003 200 Category: Environment and regulation Sub Category: Antisocial behaviour

• The Council has agreed to remind its staff that deal with noise complaints and anti social behaviour that they should consider a range of evidence when assessing anti social behaviour and noise nuisance in order to come to a reliable decision and keep clear records of how they arrive at these decisions.
• The Council has agreed to remind its staff that deal with noise complaints and Anti social behaviour that they should keep records of all visits and what was witnessed during the visits.
• The Council has agreed to remind its staff that deal with noise complaints and anti social behaviour that they should send clear, detailed decisions to complainants explaining how the Council has decided whether anti social behaviour or noise nuisance has taken place and what evidence it relied on.
• The Council has agreed to remind its staff that deal with noise complaints and anti social behaviour that if a resident says they are not managing to access a service, report issues, or communicate with the Council due to a health condition or disability, the Council has a duty under the Equality Act to enquire into the adjustments they are requesting and if they are reasonable, to put them place.

Case Ref: 23 002 824 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Transition from childrens services

• The Council failed to properly consider whether there was a need for a respite service when a child transitioned from children's to adult services. The Council will review with staff this complaint, the importance of following up respite where it has been requested and ensures staff have offered an assessment to carers where there may be a need.

Case Ref: 23 002 793 Category: Environment and regulation Sub Category: Licensing

• The Council has agreed to explain how it will better monitor cases about unlicensed rental/ Houses in Multiple Occupation to prevent delay and inactivity.

Case Ref: 23 002 406 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Assessment and care plan

• The Council was at fault for delays in investigating safeguarding concerns, not carrying out a formal carer's assessment or progressing a request for direct payments and for delays in finding a suitable care home. The Council will provide the Ombudsman with evidence of the action taken by the Quality Assurance Team to follow up the complainant's concerns about the care home.
• The Council will remind relevant officers of the need to:properly record safeguarding concerns in a timely manner;offer a separate formal carer’s assessment to those providing care and support to an adult whose needs they have assessed; andfollow up any requests for direct payments to ensure these are progressed in a timely manner.

Case Ref: 23 001 336 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• The Council will provide the Ombudsman with evidence it has arranged training for officers dealing with homeless applications on:what the code of guidance and law says in relation to assessing homeless applications;how to assess whether it is reasonable for an applicant to remain living in their accommodation;when a prevention duty is owed;when a relief duty is owed;when interim accommodation should be considered;when any prevention duty, relief duty and PHP should be reviewed; andthe need to issue decisions with appeal rights in writing and to ensure PHP’s are completed.
• The Council will review the procurement policy to identify ways to expand the type of accommodation available to the Council to house homeless applicants to ensure there is sufficient self-contained accommodation available for applicants for whom shared accommodation is unsuitable.
• The Council will remind officers of the need to carry out a suitability assessment before placing a homeless applicant in shared or other temporary accommodation.

Case Ref: 23 000 827 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Charging

• The Council has agreed to remind staff members who handle complaints that, where a joint complaint response is required from multiple service areas, it should ensure the Council’s response is complete before sending its response.

Case Ref: 22 016 908 Category: Housing Sub Category: Allocations

• The Council will review its process for assessing housing register applications (including new applications, change of circumstances requests and review requests), and consider what further steps it can take to reduce current delays in addition to the implementation of its new database. This may include recruiting or redeploying and training additional staff to address the backlog. It will provide the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman with an action plan setting out the steps it proposes to take.
• The Council will remind relevant staff of the need to issue housing register decisions in writing, with reasons and any rights of review or appeal.

Case Ref: 22 015 442 Category: Housing Sub Category: Other

• The Council has agreed to share a copy of this decision with staff in the relevant departments to identify learning from this complaint and then ensure directors in the relevant departments to implement and track the lessons learnt.
• The Council has agreed to remind relevant staff of the Council’s duties and powers to deal with anti-social behaviour and that the different standard of proof required to take civil action means the Council can act even if the police have not.
• The Council has agreed to remind relevant staff of the low threshold triggering its duty to make inquiries into whether someone is homeless or threatened with homelessness and that an applicant can trigger this duty by approaching any department in the Council.
• The Council has agreed to remind relevant staff that housing applications from existing tenants which indicate a need to move on reasonable preference grounds should be considered against the reasonable preference criteria and not only as a management transfer.
• The Council has agreed to provide an update on its progress against the action plan it agreed following a previous investigation about its delays assessing applications to the housing register.