Mid Scotland and Fife

Overview

The complainant (Miss C) contacted the Ombudsman's office as she was concerned that North Lanarkshire Council's Environmental Health Team was not addressing problems she was experiencing with a noise and vibration problem within her Council house.  Miss C stated that this led to her suffering health problems.

Specific complaint and conclusion

The complaint which has been investigated is that the Council failed to take action to properly record and address noise and vibration problems within Miss C's home (not upheld).

Redress and recommendations

The Ombudsman makes no recommendations.

Overview

The complainant (Mr C) raised concerns about Fife Council (the Council)'s handling of his request for direct payments to enable him to purchase help with domestic tasks in his home.

Specific complaints and conclusions

The complaints which have been investigated are that the Council:

• (a)      delayed placing Mr C on the home care waiting list (upheld);
• (b)      failed to provide Mr C with information on the progress of his request for direct payments (upheld); and
• (c)      delayed in responding to Mr C's complaint to the Chief Executive about direct payments (partially upheld).

Redress and recommendations

The Ombudsman recommends that the Council:

• (i)       provide Mr C with a written apology for the delay in processing his request for direct payments and for failing to provide Mr C with information on the progress of his request;
• (ii)      pay Mr C direct payments for the period for which he was eligible i.e. 12 November 2004 to 6 December 2005;
• (iii)      devise a detailed procedure for the handling of direct payment requests that takes into account the legislative requirements and guidance.  The procedure should clearly specify the role of the Social Work, Home Care and Direct Payment Services in the handling of direct payment requests and require that each step of the process be documented and held on file.  The procedure should also include the requirement that all forms, which are part of the process, are completed, signed and dated and that applicants for direct payments or homecare are informed in writing of the outcome of their application and the reasons for the decision; and
• (iv)      devise a system to ensure that, in future, complaints are dealt with in a timely manner.

The Council have accepted the recommendations.

Overview

The complainant (Mr C) raised specific complaints about restrictive off-road vehicle access to and from his driveway and the way in which Fife Council (the Council) dealt with their subsequent application of white road markings.

Specific complaints and conclusions

The complaints which have been investigated are that:

• (a)      the Council put white road markings intended to assist with Mr C's vehicle entry to and exit from his house in the wrong place, opposite his neighbour's driveway instead of his own (not upheld); and
• (b)      the Council failed to comply with their offer to provide a footway crossing at the Council's expense (not upheld).

 Redress and recommendations

The Ombudsman has no recommendations to make.

Overview

The complainant (Mrs C) raised a number of concerns about North Lanarkshire Council (the Council)'s actions in pursuing her for outstanding council tax (arrears).  She claimed that the Council were unreasonable and did not take account of her situation as she was on benefits and had a disabled child.

Specific complaints and conclusions

The complaints which have been investigated are:

• (a) failure to give notice before changing payment agreement (not upheld);
• (b) unfair denial of access to a bank account (not upheld);
• (c) failure to provide a corrected statement of arrears (upheld); and
• (d) pressed unreasonably to take action while complaint was the subject of an Ombudsman investigation (not upheld).

Redress and recommendations

The Ombudsman recommends that the Council:

• (i) provide her with details of the protocol they have put in place with the Sheriff Officers for their dealings with the Council's customers;
• (ii) investigate the failure to provide a corrected statement of arrears and take necessary action to ensure that their method of recording arrears is robust;
• (iii) inform her of the outcome of the test case being taken through court;
• (iv) produce a protocol and guidance for staff on the circumstances when an arrestment can be served, including when it could be appropriate to give consideration to lifting and/or waiving an arrestment fee; and
• (v) apologise to Mrs C for the difficulties she has experienced.

The Council have accepted the recommendations and will act on them accordingly.

Overview

The complainant (Mr C) was concerned about the handling of the internal transfer of his brother (Mr A) at the Hospital where he was a long-stay patient.  Mr C felt that the transfer had been made because of staffing issues and not in response to Mr A's needs.  He has also complained it had been carried out too quickly and that, as a result of stress caused by the move, his brother had suffered five seizures.

Specific complaints and conclusions

The complaints which have been investigated are that:

• (a)      the decision to move Mr A between units was made prior to discussion and on the basis of staffing levels rather than needs (partially upheld);
• (b)      the move was not made at Mr A's pace, was too fast and Mr A required to be medicated to facilitate the move (not upheld); and
• (c)      Mr A has since suffered seizures as a result of the stress incurred (not upheld).

Redress and recommendations

The Ombudsman recommends that if further reconfiguration is to occur, the Board should review their guidelines, and in particular their communication, individual patient review and risk management policies.

Overview

The complaint brought by Mrs C concerns an alleged failure to promptly diagnose her late father's abdominal aneurysm.  Mrs C believed that this delay made her father's condition inoperable and his death inevitable.

Specific complaint and conclusion

The complaint which has been investigated is that the Board failed to diagnose Mr A's abdominal aneurysm (not upheld).

Redress and recommendations

The Ombudsman has no recommendations to make.

Overview

The complaint concerned the disputed transport of two pupils with special educational needs to and from their school and the alleged subsequent effect of the transport dispute on the pupils and their families; and the manner in which North Lanarkshire Council (the Council)’s Education Department dealt with the complaint.

Specific complaints and conclusions

The complaints which have been investigated are:

• (a) the way the Council dealt with the disputed transport of two pupils with special educational needs to and from their school between August 2001 and July 2002 and the alleged subsequent effect of the transport dispute on the pupils and their families (upheld); and
• (b) the manner in which the Council’s Education Department dealt with the complaint from the families of the pupils to the Chief Executive of the Council in March 2003. This included the alleged contrast in the way the Council’s Education and Social Work Departments respectively dealt with the families’ separate but related complaints (not upheld).

Redress and recommendations

The Ombudsman recommends that the Council:

• (i) make a redress payment of the sum of £1,000 to Mr and Mrs C, in recognition of the anxiety and frustration they suffered during the course of their dispute with the Council and for their time and trouble in pursuing their complaint;
• (ii) make a redress payment of the sum of £1,000 to Mr and Mrs A, in recognition of the anxiety and frustration they suffered during the course of their dispute with the Council and for their time and trouble in pursuing their complaint;
• (iii) issue Mr and Mrs C with a full, formal apology for the manner in which the Council, in particular the Education Department, dealt with the school transport dispute;
• (iv) issue Mr and Mrs A with a full, formal apology for the manner in which the Council, in particular the Education Department, dealt with the school transport dispute;
• (v) review the administrative procedures to ensure (a) there is a system for proper liaison and cooperation between different Council departments; (b) that relevant information is shared between those departments; and (c) that, as far as possible, the maladministration identified in this Report does not recur;
• (vi) review the system for handling complaints so that all of its departments can demonstrate to a complainant that their complaint has been fairly, impartially and thoroughly investigated; and
• (vii) review the system for handling complaints so that, where a complaint relates to more than one Council department, consideration should be given to designating a lead officer to deal with the whole complaint, thereby ensuring consistency in the handling of that complaint.

Overview

The complainant (Mr C) raised concerns that funding for the replacement and upgrade of his central heating was withdrawn by Fife Council without justifiable reasons and that the Council had not handled his complaint according to their complaints procedure.

Specific complaints and conclusions

The complaints which have been investigated are that the Council:

• (a) unjustifiably withdrew their offer to fund the replacement and upgrade of Mr C's central heating system (upheld); and
• (b) failed to handle Mr C's complaint according to their complaints procedure and to adequately respond to Mr C's appeal against their decision to withdraw funding (upheld).

Redress and recommendations

The Ombudsman recommends that the Council:

• (i) should have a process in place to manage situations where it is difficult to come to a mutually suitable arrangement with HELP beneficiaries;
• (ii) should offer to fund the installation, in Mr C's property, of the central heating system suggested to him in their letter of 2 March 2005 and give Mr C a specific timescale to consider whether he wants to go ahead with this proposal;
• (iii) should apologise for their failure to respond to Mr C's suggestions;
• (iv) should remind officers of the importance of responding fully to correspondence received and, additionally, that any response should be addressed to the person who makes the complaint;
• (v) should ensure that all complaints are fully investigated and responded to;
• (vi) should apologise to Mr C for their failure to adequately respond to his appeal, their delay in providing a substantive response to Mr C's complaint under the second stage of their complaints process and their failure to take all circumstances of the complaint into account when carrying out their investigation.

The Council have accepted the recommendations and will act on them accordingly.

Overview

The complainant (Mr C) complained that the Scottish Information Commissioner had breached a deadline for issuing a decision notice on a number of Freedom of Information requests.

Specific complaint and conclusion

The complaint which has been investigated is failure to issue various decision notices within a period of four months (not upheld)

As the investigation progressed, I identified issues concerning the complaints procedure of the Office of the Commissioner.  I, therefore, informed the Office of the Commissioner and Mr C that the investigation would additionally consider whether the complaints procedure was adequate for handling the circumstances surrounding Mr C's complaint.

Redress and recommendations

The Ombudsman recommends that the Commissioner:

• (i) streamline their complaints procedure; and
• (ii) consider whether or not to implement an unacceptable actions policy for service users.

Overview

The complainant (Mrs C) raised concerns about the supervision of her medication and that she could not discuss the matter with a GP.

Specific complaints and conclusions

The complaints which have been investigated are that:

• (a) the Practice provided inadequate medication supervision (not upheld); and
• (b) there was communication failure (not upheld).

Redress and recommendation

The Ombudsman has no recommendations to make.