Councillor Ian Stevenson has been suspended for the remainder of his term in office (until 6 May 2019) following a decision made by the Acting Local Government Commissioner for Standards.

At an Adjudication Hearing held this morning the Northern Ireland Local Government Commissioner for Standards imposed a 6 month suspension on Alderman Ruth Patterson (Belfast City Council).

An investigation by the Public Services Ombudsman has found that Mid & East Antrim Borough Council dealt properly with a planning application for a house extension, despite objections from the applicant’s neighbours.

The Northern Ireland Local Government Commissioner for Standards has found that Alderman Ruth Patterson (Belfast City Council) breached the Local Government Code of Conduct (the Code) following comments she made at a meeting of Belfast City Council on 3 July 2017.

An investigation has concluded that the care plans drawn up for a resident in a nursing home in Armagh were largely adequate, but that the home had underestimated the resident’s risk of a fall and that it was inconsistent in its assessment of his mental state.

An investigation into a man’s complaint has found that the conditions on a hospital ward did not cause his wife to contract pneumonia.

The Ombudsman has found that a planning officer dealing with a man’s application considered the appropriate policies and took a planning consultant’s views into account before making her decision.    

The Northern Ireland Local Government Commissioner for Standards has imposed a 5 month suspension on Councillor Thomas Hogg (Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council) following an Adjudication Hearing held in Belfast (28 January 2019).

The Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman has informed the Department for Communities that she is proposing, under new powers, to launch an investigation into the way the Department administers Personal Independence Payments (PIPs). The welfare benefit replaced Disability Living Allowance in June 2016.

The Public Services Ombudsman has upheld a complaint from a member of the public who complained about the way the Housing Executive handled her request for a grant to buy a property.