London Borough of Bexley (22 010 138)

Statement Upheld Alternative provision 25-Apr-2023

Summary: Miss Y complains her son, W, has been out of school for more than one year and the Council has failed to arrange alternative provision for him. In our view, the Council acted with fault because some of the decisions it made were not in accordance with the legislation or statutory guidance. The Council has agreed to review W’s case, make a payment to him and Miss Y and implement the service improvements listed at the end of this statement.

London Borough of Bexley (22 013 678)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 10-Aug-2023

Summary: Mr and Mrs F complained how the Council has handled their son’s educational needs and education provision. They say the Council failed to provide suitable provision when their son could not attend school for medical reasons. We find the Council was at fault for how it handled Mr and Mrs F’s son’s educational needs when he was too unwell to attend school. It also delayed issuing the final Education, Health and Care plan and it delayed responding to their complaint. The Council has agreed to our recommendations to address the injustice caused by fault.

London Borough of Bexley (22 015 782)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 17-Aug-2023

Summary: The complainant (Ms X) complained about the way the Council reassessed her daughter’s (Y) educational, health and care (EHC) needs and carried out a Personal Budget (PB) process for her. Ms X also complained about the Council’s failings when communicating with her and handling her complaint. We found fault with the Council. This fault caused Y and Ms X injustice. The Council agreed to apologise, make distress payments to Y and Ms X, complete the reassessment and carry out some service improvements in addition to the remedy already offered by the Council in December 2022.

London Borough of Bexley (22 006 737)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 24-Aug-2023

Summary: Miss X complained that the Council failed to provide her son, Mr Z, with an education for almost a year, failed to provide the provisions in his education, health and care plan and delayed providing a suitable home tutor. We find the Council was at fault. To remedy the injustice caused by fault, we make several recommendations.

London Borough of Bexley (23 000 489)

Statement Upheld Council tax 03-Sep-2023

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about entitlement to a Council tax rebate because the matter has been remedied.

London Borough of Bexley (23 007 483)

Statement Upheld Refuse and recycling 20-Sep-2023

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s refuse collections. This is because the Council has investigated and resolved the issues with Mr X’s missed collections, and it is unlikely we could add to its Council’s investigation or achieve anything more for Mr X.

London Borough of Bexley (23 010 149)

Statement Upheld Private housing 23-Oct-2023

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council lost his letters. This is because the Council has since apologised and there is insufficient outstanding injustice to warrant further investigation.

London Borough of Bexley (23 006 404)

Statement Upheld Other 30-Nov-2023

Summary: Miss C complained that the Council delayed in completing a stage two investigation of her complaint about children’s services. We found the Council was responsible for some of the delay. It has agreed to pay Miss C £100 and offer her a stage three review panel.

London Borough of Bexley (23 007 822)

Statement Upheld Council tax 17-Jan-2024

Summary: Ms B complained that the Council delayed for nine months in referring her property to the Valuation Office for banding, which caused a delay in sending her the correct council tax bill and then demanded payment of a large amount of money at short notice. It also delayed in awarding the correct discounts and acknowledging the impact of the delay. We found fault with the actions of the Council. It has agreed to pay an additional £275 to Ms B and improve its procedures for the future.

London Borough of Bexley (23 007 558)

Statement Upheld Planning applications 25-Jan-2024

Summary: Mr X complains the Council has not dealt properly with a planning application near his home. The Council is at fault because it did not advise him of the planning meeting, its communication with Mr X was poor and it didn’t not follow its complaints process properly. Mr X was unable to make representations in person and spent time and trouble raising issues with the Council. The Council has apologised, provided guidance to staff, revised processes and offered to pay Mr X £300 in respect of the distress and time and trouble he suffered. The Council should also provide training to staff about complaint handling.