Northumberland County Council (23 003 584)

Statement Upheld Planning applications 09-Apr-2024

Summary: Mr X complains the Council failed to properly consider the impact of a neighbour’s plan for an extension. He says his house and garden will be overshadowed by the extension. We find there was fault by the Council. However, the outcome would not have changed.

Northumberland County Council (23 014 596)

Statement Upheld Highway repair and maintenance 09-May-2024

Summary: Mrs X complained the Council provided inaccurate/incorrect information about the extent to which she needed to cut back her hedge to comply with sightline requirements. The Council’s failure to provide clear and accurate advice or instructions regarding the extent to which Mrs X needed to cut back her hedge is fault. This fault has caused Mrs X an injustice.

Northumberland County Council (23 012 115)

Statement Upheld Noise 23-May-2024

Summary: Ms X complains the Council failed to respond to her complaint regarding noise from various premises. There is no evidence of fault by the Council causing injustice.

Northumberland County Council (23 014 712)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 03-Jul-2024

Summary: Ms X complained about how the Council funded her son’s education. The Council was at fault for failing to have suitable oversight of how it funded Z’s education and in how it decided to reduce Z’s funding. This allowed the funds to be misused and meant Z did not receive all the special educational provision he needed. The Council will review Z’s Education, Health and Care Plan, and put this Ombudsman’s decision to its family and children’s services overview and scrutiny committee.

Northumberland County Council (24 000 673)

Statement Upheld Homelessness 03-Sep-2024

Summary: Mr X, who is street homeless, complained that he missed out on an offer of housing when the Council amended his email address on its computer system. To remedy the injustice caused the Council agreed to apologise to Mr X and make a payment to acknowledge the distress he experienced.

Northumberland County Council (24 000 306)

Statement Upheld School transport 17-Sep-2024

Summary: The Council did not properly record its decision-making when deciding Mr B’s school transport appeals and it failed to provide sufficient detail in its decision letters. There was fault in the way the Council recorded its decision-making. Because of this, Mr B suffered uncertainty. The Council will apologise to Mr B, train staff, and offer Mr B a fresh appeal.

Northumberland County Council (23 019 694)

Statement Upheld Parking and other penalties 29-Sep-2024

Summary: Ms X complained about how the Council rejected her application for a disabled parking bay outside her home. There was fault in how the Council considered Ms X’s application. The Council agreed to apologise to Ms X for the distress this caused and review its decision. It also agreed to review its disabled parking bay policy to ensure it allows the Council to consider individual circumstances in each case.

Northumberland County Council (23 017 490)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 06-Oct-2024

Summary: Ms Y has two sons who both have Education, Health and Care plans in place. Ms Y complained the Council has failed to implement the provision in either plan, and the Council accepted this to be true. We found the Council at fault and recommended the Council apologise, make a payment in acknowledgement of the injustice caused, and make service improvements.

Northumberland County Council (23 018 428)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 08-Oct-2024

Summary: the Council agreed to amend Ms P’s son B’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. It issued a final amended Plan 16 weeks after the annual review meeting. This was 4 weeks late. As B was not attending school, this compounds the injustice caused by the delay. The Council has agreed a symbolic remedy.

Northumberland County Council (24 007 546)

Statement Upheld Other 09-Jan-2025

Summary: A support service commissioned by the Council failed to update its risk assessments and share key information about Ms X’s son, Mr X, in the weeks before he died. The NHS Trust that jointly provided the service then failed to include some key information about Mr X’s case in its internal review and made mistakes in its submissions to the coroner. As the Council commissioned the service, the Council was at fault. These faults caused Ms X avoidable uncertainty, frustration and distress. The Council has agreed to apologise, pay Ms X £800 and provide evidence of service improvements made by the NHS Trust and the support service.