Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council (22 013 640)

Statement Upheld Charging 02-Jul-2023

Summary: Mrs X complains the Council failed to deal properly with the charges for her mother’s care by failing to offer a deferred payment agreement and failing to take account of the costs arising from owning a flat before it was sold. The Council was at fault for failing to take account of the cost of owning the flat before it was sold. It needs to review the charges for the mother’s care, correct any errors and take action to ensure officers deal properly with this in the future.

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council (23 000 145)

Statement Upheld Charging 06-Aug-2023

Summary: Mrs B complained that the Council wrongly assessed Mrs D’s capital when her property was sold. This meant it treated Mrs D as a self-funder, liable to pay her own care charges for a year longer than she should have done. It also delayed in reinstating the council-funded contract and continued to send invoices to Mrs B. We found fault with the Council’s actions. If it had correctly assessed Mrs D’s interest in the property she would have remained on a council-funded contract and would not have had to pay any of her care charges beyond her assessed contribution. The Council has agreed to pay her a total of £3,500 and explain the recent invoice for £16,000.

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council (23 001 904)

Statement Upheld Transport 19-Oct-2023

Summary: Mrs X complained about the Council’s decision to refuse her application to renew her blue badge. We discontinued our investigation. That was because events moved on. The Council has a new blue badge application process and awarded Mrs X a blue badge. There was therefore no significant remaining injustice to Mrs X and no worthwhile outcome achievable by further investigation.

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council (23 002 017)

Statement Upheld Land 21-Nov-2023

Summary: Ms X complained the Council felled five trees on her land. We have found fault with the Council for using old maps and removing the trees in error.

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council (22 017 163)

Statement Upheld Planning applications 01-Dec-2023

Summary: X complained about the way the Council dealt with planning and tree protection matters on land next to their home. We found fault that caused an injustice. The Council agreed to our recommendations to remedy the injustice that was caused by the fault we found.

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council (22 017 008)

Statement Upheld Other 26-Jan-2024

Summary: Mr D complained a redevelopment of land by the Council led to issues with rat infestation in a block of flats owned and managed by his company. We did not find the Council at fault for how it redeveloped its land. But we did find it at fault for mistakes in its complaint handling that caused unacceptable frustration, time and trouble to Mr D. The Council has accepted these findings. At the end of this statement we set out action it has agreed to take to remedy this injustice and improve its service for others.

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council (23 001 186)

Statement Upheld Other 02-Feb-2024

Summary: Mr X complains the Council did not consult about a proposal to change the use of a neighbouring property into a children’s home. He says the Council acted with fault by issuing a Lawful Development Certificate (LDC) and not requiring planning permission. He also says the Council failed to communicate effectively about his concerns. We have not found the Council acted with fault when issuing an LDC. We have found the Council failed to communicate properly with Mr X, which caused avoidable frustration and uncertainty. We have made recommendations to remedy the injustice caused.

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council (23 008 901)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 26-Feb-2024

Summary: The Council was at fault for causing a delay to Mrs B’s son’s special educational needs support. As it is unlikely that the benefit of this support can now be recovered, the Council has agreed to make symbolic payments to Mrs B to recognise the injustice she and her son experienced.

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council (23 009 001)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 28-Feb-2024

Summary: Mr X complained the Council delayed issuing an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan for his daughter (D) and failed to communicate effectively. The Council is at fault for delay in issuing the draft and final EHC Plan. The Council also failed to communicate effectively. This has impacted on D’s learning and caused distress to Mr X and the whole family.

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council (23 008 242)

Statement Upheld Domiciliary care 15-Mar-2024

Summary: Ms B complained about the actions of a care agency (commissioned by the Council) during an incident in May 2023. She also complained about the care agency’s communications about what happened. We cannot say there was fault in the care agency’s actions on the day of the incident but there was fault in its communications later which caused distress to Ms B. The Council has agreed to apologise and pay a symbolic amount to Ms B.