North Devon District Council (19 021 236)

Statement Upheld Housing benefit and council tax benefit 22-Feb-2021

Summary: Miss B complained the Council wrongly told her she would be able to claim housing benefit when she moved to North Devon. Miss B said she could not claim housing benefit when she moved, and this put her in financial difficulty. The Council was at fault for implementing the Amendment of the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014 in June 2018 before the ruling came into effect in January 2019. The Council incorrectly told Miss B her benefits would be unaffected if she moved and wrongly paid her housing benefit. This caused injustice to Miss B. The Council agreed to make a financial payment to Miss B to acknowledge the impact of its fault.

North Devon District Council (20 005 183)

Statement Upheld Noise 03-Mar-2021

Summary: The Council was at fault for the severe delay in responding to this complaint, and it has agreed to write a formal letter of apology to complainant for this. However, we cannot find fault on the substantive matters in the complaint, because they are too old or too speculative for the Ombudsman to investigate.

North Devon District Council (19 016 192)

Statement Not upheld Other 17-Mar-2021

Summary: Mr X complained the Council is failing to comply with its legal responsibilities regarding Radon gas in rented accommodation in its area. We have discontinued our investigate as there is no evidence of a personal injustice to Mr X.

North Devon District Council (19 006 450)

Statement Not upheld Planning applications 24-Mar-2021

Summary: the complainant says the Council failed to properly consider a planning application for a house built close to her home resulting in a building it would otherwise have refused. The Council says it considered the application against all relevant planning policies and says the application met the criteria for a local needs’ application. We find the Council acted without fault in deciding the application.