Northumberland County Council (22 017 905)

Statement Upheld Other 13-Apr-2023

Summary: We uphold Mrs X’s complaint the Council has failed to reply to her complaint within its Children Act statutory complaints’ procedure. The Council has now agreed to do so.

Northumberland County Council (21 017 997)

Statement Upheld Allocations 20-Apr-2023

Summary: Mr X complains about the Council’s delay in offering him accommodation. We have not found fault by the Council causing injustice to Mr X. The Council has agreed to our recommendations for a service improvement regarding its automatic bids.

Northumberland County Council (22 010 942)

Statement Upheld Planning applications 04-May-2023

Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s decisions relating to development on land near his home. There was a service failure that caused some injustice to Mr X but potentially more to others who live closer to the development. We have made recommendations to remedy the injustice we found.

Northumberland County Council (22 016 389)

Statement Upheld Other 19-Jun-2023

Summary: Mrs X complained the Council did not refer her to the Valuations Office Agency meaning she missed out on business grants and, it delayed in communications. We found the Council at fault. We recommended it pays Mrs X £150 for time and trouble.

Northumberland County Council (23 001 432)

Statement Upheld Other 27-Jun-2023

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about delay in confirming to the complainant that it had removed her details from the open electoral register. The Council has agreed to apologise for the delay which we consider is an appropriate remedy to this complaint.

Northumberland County Council (22 004 659)

Statement Upheld Enforcement 05-Jul-2023

Summary: Mr X complained the Council was at fault for agreeing changes to planning permission at a site near his home and for the way it dealt with issues of noise and the blockage of a Public Right of Way (PROW). We found there was no fault in the Council’s planning decisions but it failed to respond to reports that a PROW was blocked. This was fault. We recommended an apology and a review of its decision not to take action on the PROW obstruction.

Northumberland County Council (21 017 034)

Statement Upheld Friends and family carers 13-Aug-2023

Summary: Ms X complained the Council failed to complete annual reviews of her Special Guardianship Order Allowance from 2008 until April 2020. Ms X says because of this failure to review the Council has underpaid her resulting in financial hardship. On the evidence seen, we found fault with the Council failing to complete annual reviews. The Council has already addressed this fault from 2015 to 2020 and from 2008 to 2009 through backdated payments and addressed its customer service failings through total goodwill awards of £3,756.63. The Council agreed to provide a backdated payment to Ms X for the difference between the Special Guardianship Order Allowance it paid her and the equivalent Fostering Allowance, minus child benefit, from April 2010 to 2015.

Northumberland County Council (21 017 287)

Statement Upheld Other 24-Aug-2023

Summary: Miss X complains the Council hindered Child Y being referred for a diagnosis and failed to provide support. Miss Y says instead the Council focused on fabricated mental health concerns. This meant Child Y was unnecessarily without support and medication, and caused significant distress to Miss X. The Ombudsman finds fault with the Council for its handling of some areas of the child and family assessment, however the Council has identified and remedied the fault through the statutory complaints process.

Northumberland County Council (22 016 881)

Statement Upheld Charging 23-Oct-2023

Summary: Mr X complained on behalf of his wife, Mrs X, about the care provided to her at a residential care home. Mr X also complained about the care charges. We found no fault regarding the care provided to Mrs X but found fault regarding the Council’s care plans and regarding its response to our enquiries. The Council has agreed to provide an apology and a financial remedy to address the injustice identified.

Northumberland County Council (23 009 373)

Statement Upheld Refuse and recycling 25-Oct-2023

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s collection of Mr X’s refuse. This is because the Council has done enough to put right any injustice its fault caused and we could not achieve anything more.