Southend-on-Sea City Council (22 012 210)

Statement Upheld Covid-19 29-May-2023

Summary: Mr X was liable for business rates from June 2019 to March 2021 but the Council delayed and did not bill Mr X until November 2021. There was fault by the Council in failing to contact Mr X directly after receiving his contact details but there is no evidence Mr X ever contacted the Council himself and so the injustice claimed was not as a direct result of the Council’s fault.

Southend-on-Sea City Council (23 001 766)

Statement Upheld Child protection 02-Jul-2023

Summary: We have upheld this complaint because the Council delayed considering a complaint under the children’s statutory complaints procedure. The Council has now agreed to resolve the complaint by apologising to the complainant and offering to make a payment to them to remedy the time and trouble they have been too. It has also arranged a stage three panel to take place at the beginning of August.

Southend-on-Sea City Council (22 013 910)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 24-Sep-2023

Summary: There was fault by the Council which did not issue Mr Y’s final Education, Health and Care Plan within the timescales required by a Tribunal’s order. This caused avoidable frustration and uncertainty. The Council will apologise, make symbolic payments, fund a specialist advocate, arrange and take part in mediation and issue an amended final plan.

Southend-on-Sea City Council (23 004 073)

Statement Upheld Other 25-Oct-2023

Summary: Mr X complained about how the Council safeguarded his great-grandchild and about its role in their care. He also complained about how the Council responded to his children’s statutory complaint. The Council was at fault for delay at stage two and three of the statutory complaint procedure. The delay caused Mr X avoidable frustration, for which the Council will pay £250. It will also complete stage three of the procedure.

Southend-on-Sea City Council (23 004 870)

Statement Upheld Allocations 05-Jan-2024

Summary: Mr X complains about the way the Council dealt with his homelessness application, eviction from a hostel and allocated banding priority to his housing application causing distress. We have not investigated Mr X’s concerns about his eviction from the hostel and decision he was intentionally homeless because he could have appealed to the courts about the intentionally homeless decision. We have found no evidence of fault in the way the Council considered and allocated Mr X banding priority. But we found fault because the Council delayed carrying out a review of Mr X’s housing banding causing uncertainty. However, the injustice caused to Mr X has been remedied as he has been able to bid at a higher priority for 20 months. So, we have completed our investigation.

Southend-on-Sea City Council (23 011 147)

Statement Upheld Homelessness 17-Jan-2024

Summary: Mrs C complained the Council had unreasonably refused to provide interim accommodation to relieve her homelessness. There was some fault in the process the Council followed after another local authority’s referral. This did not cause Mrs C an injustice as it has since followed the correct process and the outcome remained the same.

Southend-on-Sea City Council (23 006 422)

Statement Upheld Homelessness 21-Feb-2024

Summary: Mrs X complained about the Council’s actions when she became homeless. The Council failed to properly consider whether it owed Mrs X a relief duty sooner and placed Mrs X and her child, Y, in unsuitable emergency accommodation. The Council did not consider Mrs X’s request to review its decision of temporary accommodation. It also offered her two properties which were unsuitable for her health needs and too far from Y’s school. These faults caused Mrs X distress, frustration, uncertainty, and financial loss. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mrs X, offer her a symbolic payment, reimburse her with costs resulting from the Council’s faults and review the suitability of her temporary accommodation. The Council will also make service improvements to prevent a recurrence of fault.

Southend-on-Sea City Council (23 015 785)

Statement Upheld Other 06-Mar-2024

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about children services’ actions. We have upheld Mr X’s complaint as the Council has now agreed to follow the Children Act statutory complaints’ procedure.