South Gloucestershire Council (23 006 318)

Statement Upheld Assessment and care plan 13-May-2024

Summary: There were communication failures in respect of Mr X’s needs and a failure to understand new practices which led to a delay in moving him to a nursing home in his home area. There were also failures to communicate properly with Mr X’s wider family. The Council agrees to offer Mr X and Ms A payments in recognition of the distress and anxiety caused.

South Gloucestershire Council (23 012 209)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 29-May-2024

Summary: Ms X complained the Council is not providing her son, S, with 1:1 special support as provided in his Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. Ms X also says the Council’s complaint handling has been poor. The Council has failed to consistently provide the support provided in the EHC Plan and has delayed in responding to the complaint. This has affected S’s ability to access education and caused him and Ms X distress.

South Gloucestershire Council (24 001 347)

Statement Upheld Fostering 11-Jun-2024

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council conducted a virtual meeting. Further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

South Gloucestershire Council (23 004 788)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 11-Sep-2024

Summary: There was a seven-month delay in reviewing and amending Y’s Education Health and Care Plan which caused avoidable distress, frustration and a delay in appeal rights. Communication with Y’s mother Ms X was also poor. The Council will apologise, make a payment of £250. It will also provide evidence it has reviewed procedures and reimbursed Ms X’s travel expenses.

South Gloucestershire Council (23 020 891)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 23-Sep-2024

Summary: We upheld Ms X’s complaint about inclusion funding for children with special educational needs in early years settings. The Council’s policy and practice at the time was flawed and this caused avoidable frustration, distress and uncertainty about whether additional hours of childcare could have been made available for Ms X’s child, Y. The Council has already taken appropriate action to remedy the injustice by apologising, offering a payment and amending its policy and procedures.

South Gloucestershire Council (23 011 505)

Statement Upheld Trees 02-Oct-2024

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a delay by the Council in doing tree work because the trees have now been removed.

South Gloucestershire Council (24 001 117)

Statement Upheld Homelessness 13-Dec-2024

Summary: Miss X complained about the Council’s decision to refer her homelessness application to another council area where she said she had suffered domestic abuse. The Council was not at fault for the way it reached the decision to refer Miss X’s homelessness application. It was at fault for not providing full information with the referral and for initially advising Miss X she could request a review of the decision. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to acknowledge the distress the faults caused and to remind officers to ensure referrals to other councils contain sufficient information about the case.

South Gloucestershire Council (24 003 492)

Statement Upheld Charging 17-Dec-2024

Summary: Mr X complained the Council wrongly calculated how much his wife, Mrs X, should pay towards her care fees and delayed issuing him a refund after it later decided she did not need to pay full costs. The Council was at fault for failing to act on a letter Mr X sent to it. This caused him frustration and uncertainty The Council also delayed issuing a later refund to Mr X, which caused him frustration and meant he was unable to earn interest on the sum. To remedy Mr X’s injustice, the Council will apologise and pay him interest on the refunded sum.

South Gloucestershire Council (24 005 060)

Statement Upheld Other 24-Feb-2025

Summary: Mrs D complained the Council failed to ensure that a nursery did not charge top up fees for free early education places and did not investigate her complaint properly. We found the sustainability charge was in line with the statutory guidance. There was fault in complaint handling which the Council has already apologised for.

South Gloucestershire Council (23 014 129)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 19-Mar-2025

Summary: Mrs X complained that the Council failed to ensure the provision set out in her son’s education, health and care plan was delivered. We found the Council was at fault causing Mrs X’s son to lose out on provision to which he was entitled. Both he and Mrs X suffered distress as a result. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mrs X and make payments to her and her son.