Brighton & Hove City Council
Annual statistics ?Find out more about annual statistics
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Complaints upheld
73% Complaints upheld by Brighton & Hove City Council
73% of complaints we investigated were upheld.
This compares to an average of 79% in similar authorities.
19 upheld decisions
View upheld decisionsAdjusted for Brighton & Hove City Council's population, this is
6.8 upheld decisions per 100,000 residents.The average for authorities of this type is
4.6 upheld decisions per 100,000 residents.Statistics are based on a total of 26 investigations for the period between 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024
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Compliance with Ombudsman recommendations
100% of cases were successfully implemented by Brighton & Hove City Council
100% of cases we were satisfied the Council had successfully implemented our recommendations.
This compares to an average of 100% in similar authorities.
Statistics are based on a total of 17 compliance outcomes for the period between 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024
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Satisfactory remedies provided by the Council
16% Complaints with satisfactory remedy provided by Brighton & Hove City Council
In 16% of upheld cases we found the Council had provided a satisfactory remedy before the complaint reached the Ombudsman.
This compares to an average of 13% in similar authorities.
3 satisfactory remedy decisions
Statistics are based on a total of 19 upheld decisions for the period between 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024
View all satisfactory remedy decisions
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 ?Find out more about reports
In the last nine years, the Ombudsman has published the following reports against Brighton & Hove City Council
Council told woman with dementia to change care home when her money ran out
Brighton and Hove City Council told a woman’s family she would have to move to a cheaper care home when her money ran out, without assessing whether moving would harm her, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found.
Council places woman and autistic son in flat below nuisance neighbour
A mother and her autistic son were caused severe distress after they were placed in temporary accommodation below a neighbour who had previous warnings for anti-social behaviour, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found.
Service improvements ?Find out more about service improvements
Since April 2018, the Council has agreed to make the following improvements to its services following an Ombudsman investigation. We list up to 10 cases below – click ‘view all’ if there are more.
Case reference: 23 018 882
Category: Education
Sub Category: Alternative provision
- The Council should send written reminders to relevant staff of the Council’s responsibilities under Section 19 of the Education Act when it is made aware a child is not attending school. With these reminders, it should share a copy of our “Out of school, out of sight? focus report, highlighting key points to ensure officers are aware of the factors they should consider when a request for alternative provision is made.
Case reference: 23 016 795
Category: Benefits and tax
Sub Category: Council tax
- Explain what it will do to ensure that correct exemptions and discounts are applied at the earliest convenience.
Case reference: 23 013 772
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Homelessness
- The Council has agreed to remind staff of the guidance for closing cases due to non-engagement
- The Council will remind staff of its responsibility to provide interim accommodation at the outset, and when 'homeless at home' arrangements may be suitable for an applicant and the correct process to follow, if there is reason to believe an application may be in priority need.
Case reference: 23 013 280
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Other
- The Council has committed to create a transport policy for adult social care uses and remind officers to complete annual reviews and transport assessments when needed.
Case reference: 23 011 982
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Assessment and care plan
- Within three months of the date of my final decision statement the Council agreed to:Review its market shaping and commissioning procedures for community adult social care providers to minimise delays in sourcing care providers. It will ensure it has processes in place to meet its duties as set out in the Care Act 2014 and associated statutory guidance.
Case reference: 23 004 931
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- The Council has agreed to review its record keeping procedures to ensure officers keep a clear record of their decisions about whether education provision is accessible to a child out of school and whether it owes a duty under Section 19 of the Education Act 1996 to make alternative education provision.
Case reference: 23 006 942
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- Consider what went wrong in this case and whether there are any changes the Council could make to its procedures to ensure it takes steps sooner to put in place the provision in an Education, Health and Care plan following a decision from the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability).
Case reference: 23 004 544
Category: Education
Sub Category: School transport
- The Council will remind all officers who carry out and sit at school transport appeal panels, and those who send decision letters, of the requirement to consider all of the evidence presented and properly record and evidence how it reached the decision, in line with statutory guidance.
Case reference: 23 003 459
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- The Council will remind officers dealing with reviews of EHCPs of the need to follow the process set out in the code of practice even if there is an outstanding appeal in relation to an earlier EHCP.
- The Council will remind officers dealing with special educational needs complaints of the need to comply with complaint timescales, particularly when it does not intend to pursue the complaint further due to an appeal. The Council should also remind those officers to check if there are separable parts of the complaint, unrelated to an appeal, which can be dealt with under the Council’s complaints procedure.
Case reference: 22 017 779
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Safeguarding
- The Council agreed to review its administrative processes for handling adult safeguarding concerns to establish why it failed to consider one of the safeguarding concerns raised in this case. It will then issue internal guidance to relevant staff to prevent reoccurrence of this issue.
- The Council agreed to share our final decision with relevant adult safeguarding staff to ensure they are aware of the Ombudsman’s findings in this case. It will ensure staff are aware of the Council’s learning points from our decision and the importance of:clear and accurate record-keeping, including recording decision reasons;keeping to timescales, monitoring delays, and keeping the subject of the safeguarding concern and/or their representative(s) informed; communicating outcomes to the subject and/or their representative(s); andproperly checking Council records when responding to complaints about adult safeguarding to ensure Council complaint responses are accurate based on its records and evidence.
Last updated: 4 April 2015