Reading Borough Council
Complaint overview
Between 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, we dealt with 59 complaints. Of these, 20 were not for us or not ready for us to investigate. We assessed and closed 24 complaints. We investigated 15 complaints.
More about this data
Complaints dealt with – the total number of complaints and enquiries considered. It is not appropriate to investigate all of them.
Not for us – includes complaints brought to us before the council was given chance to consider it, or the complainant came to the wrong Ombudsman.
Assessed and closed – includes complaints where the law says we’re not allowed to investigate, or it would be a poor use of public funds if we did.
Investigated – we completed an investigation and made a decision on whether we found fault, or no fault.
Complaints upheld – we completed an investigation and found evidence of fault, or the organisation provided a suitable remedy early on.
Satisfactory remedies provided by the Council – the council upheld the complaint and we agreed with how it offered to put things right.
Compliance with Ombudsman recommendations – not complying with our recommendations is rare. A council with a compliance rate below 100% should scrutinise the complaints where it failed to comply and identify any learning.
Average performance rates – we compare the annual statistics of similar types of councils to work out an average level of performance. We do this for County Councils, District Councils, Metropolitan Boroughs, Unitary Councils, and London Boroughs.
For more information on understanding our statistics see Interpreting our complaints data.
Complaints dealt with
Not for us
Assessed and closed
Investigated
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Complaints upheld
We investigated 15 complaints and upheld 10.
67% of complaints we investigated were upheld.
This compares to an average of 80% in similar authorities.
View upheld decisionsAdjusted for Reading Borough Council's population, this is 5.6 upheld decisions per 100,000 residents.
The average for authorities of this type is
5.3 upheld decisions per 100,000 residents. -
Satisfactory remedies provided by the Council
In 2 out of 10 upheld cases we found the Council had provided a satisfactory remedy before the complaint reached the Ombudsman.
20% satisfactory remedy rate.
This compares to an average of 10% in similar authorities.
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Compliance with Ombudsman recommendations
We recorded compliance outcomes in 8 cases.
In 8 cases we were satisfied with the actions taken.100% compliance rate with recommendations.
This compares to an average of 100% in similar authorities.
Annual letters
We write to councils each year to give a summary of the complaint statistics we record about them,
and their performance in responding to our investigations.
Reports
The Ombudsman has published the following reports against Reading Borough Council
Find out more about reports
We issue reports on certain investigations, particularly where there is a wider public interest to do so. Common reasons for reports are significant injustice, systemic issues, major learning points and non-compliance with our recommendations. Issuing reports is one way we help to ensure councils are accountable to local people and highlighting the learning from complaints helps to improve services for everybody. Reports are published for 10 years.
Reading care workers late getting medical attention for vulnerable woman
Care workers in Reading did not follow emergency procedures to ensure a vulnerable woman received the correct medical attention, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found.
Service improvements
The Council has agreed to make the following improvements to its services following an Ombudsman investigation.
Find out more about service improvements
When we find fault, we can recommend improvements to systems and processes where they haven’t worked properly, so that others do not suffer from these same problems in future. Common examples are policy changes; procedural reviews; and staff training. Service improvements from decisions are published for 5 years and those from reports are published for 10 years.
The latest 10 cases are listed below – click ‘view all’ to find all service improvements.
Case reference: 24 010 609
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- The Council agreed to prepare written guidance to cover what happens if parents and carers do not agree suggested changes made at the annual review meeting for their child’s Education Health and Care Plan. To then tell relevant officers about the new guidance and share that guidance with schools and, when needed, parents and carers.
- The Council agreed to review its internal guidance to ensure it clearly sets out the law and procedure for consulting schools about securing a place for a child with an Education Health and Care Plan. To then tell relevant officers about the reviewed guidance.
Case reference: 24 009 593
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- The Council will share with the Ombudsman an update on the steps it has taken and intends to take to address the lack of available childcare provision for children with disabilities and special educational needs in its area.
Case reference: 23 009 132
Category: Education
Sub Category: School transport
- The Council will remind staff sending home to school transport appeal outcome letters to include sufficient detail fully explaining the rationale for the Council’s decisions.
Case reference: 22 013 373
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- The Council has agreed to review it procedures for:a) making referrals for social care assessments required for SEND tribunal proceedings to ensure the appropriate assessment is completed by the appropriate team; andb) arranging health and social care support in cases where it has decided to implement a tribunal’s recommendations and issue guidance about this to relevant staff.
Case reference: 23 007 709
Category: Environment and regulation
Sub Category: Noise
- The Council will review its planning enforcement process to ensure it acts in compliance with the Council's Local Enforcement Plan.
- The Council will provide its staff dealing with planning enforcement with the training on the procedure to follow when investigating potential planning breaches.
Case reference: 23 002 560
Category: Children's care services
Sub Category: Other
- The Council has agreed to review the availability of advocates in the local area so it canprovide accurate information to complainants on its website
Case reference: 23 002 008
Category: Transport and highways
Sub Category: Parking and other penalties
- The Council has agreed to remind relevant staff that the Council should consider the merits of late representations against a penalty charge and explain why it does not accept them. The Council should amend any guidance and template letters to ensure it is not fettering its discretion.
- The Council has agreed to remind relevant staff that where a motorist asks how to provide evidence in support of representations against a penalty charge, the Council should give them the opportunity to provide that evidence before deciding to reject their presentations.
Case reference: 22 014 091
Category: Education
Sub Category: Alternative provision
- The Council will remind staff in its special educational needs and disability service of the importance of providing all relevant information to the special educational needs panel.
Case reference: 22 010 866
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Assessment and care plan
- The Council has agreed to provide evidence of the action it has taken to implement the service improvements identified in its complaint investigation.
Case reference: 22 000 793
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Assessment and care plan
- The Council has agreed to work with the care home to address the faults identified, especially with regards to the way it communicates with family members.
Last updated: 4 April 2015