Case Ref: 22 011 858 Category: Housing Sub Category: Allocations

• The Council has agreed within three months of the date of my final decision, to:• review its procedures for dealing with reviews about housing allocation decisions to ensure review decisions are accurate, contain reasons and provide a right of review where appropriate; and • remind staff that when information is received indicating a change of circumstance that further enquiries should be made of the applicant to ensure full information about their situation is obtained.

Case Ref: 21 017 813 Category: Transport and highways Sub Category: Parking and other penalties

• Going forward, the Council should set up a process where no monies received from its finance team will be processed until the parking team has completed an assessment on a case, to help ensure that PCNs will not be deemed paid if a challenge has accompanied a payment made. Any monies paid from a payment card will similarly be refunded if accompanied by a challenge and will be further requested, if necessary, when a challenge has been responded to.
• The Council will also place a notice on its website advising residents that if they have historically challenged and paid a PCN at the informal stage and have not had the opportunity to go to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal, they can take their case to the Ombudsman.

Case Ref: 21 008 051 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Disabled facilities grants

• The Council should send a memo to officers dealing with disabled facilities grants and Millbrook Healthcare Ltd to remind them that the law allows the Council to award a discretionary grant if works have started but not been completed before the application was approved where the Council considers there are good reasons for doing so.

Case Ref: 20 005 529 Category: Benefits and tax Sub Category: COVID-19

• The Council has agreed to remind staff of the need to keep written records of their decision making in line with the Ombudsman’s Principles of Good Administrative Practice.

Case Ref: 20 003 544 Category: Planning Sub Category: Enforcement

• The Council will share the final decision with staff in the planning department to highlight the importance of the Data Protection Act.

Case Ref: 19 015 778 Category: Planning Sub Category: Planning applications

• The Council will provide the Ombudsman with the outcome of its review into the notification process to ensure all relevant addresses are notified in accordance with its Statement of Community Involvement.
• The Council will use its best efforts to agree an enforceable condition with the developer restricting the use of the fire escape for emergency or maintenance purposes only and provide an update on progress to the Ombudsman.

Case Ref: 19 015 506 Category: Environment and regulation Sub Category: Other

• The council will amend its policy to reflect that agreement to visits should be sough tin advance.
• The Council will remind staff of the importance of accurately recording the details of calls.

Case Ref: 19 009 691 Category: Planning Sub Category: Enforcement

• The Council has agreed to take action as necessary to ensure complaints are acknowledged promptly in future and take action to ensure there is oversight of complaints in order to meet timescales even where there are changes in staff.