Case Ref: 24 008 783 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• The Council has agreed to provide further training for housing and homelessness staff on identifying and carrying out homelessness applications, paying particular attention to when there may be reason to believe an applicant is in priority need.
• The Council has also agreed to circulate this investigation, Mr X’s previous investigation, and the lessons learnt to housing and homelessness managers and team leaders.

Case Ref: 24 007 298 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council has agreed to provide training to staff about identifying when a child is failing to access a suitable education and what steps the Council should take to detail its consideration of this access to education and how it proposes to address this. The Council should refer to the guidance Out of school out of sight? Published in July 2022 to inform this training.

Case Ref: 24 006 290 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will remind staff in its Special Educational Needs and Disability Serviceto ensure,thestatutory timescales for the Education, Health and Care Plan process followingannual reviews are always adhered to.
• The Council will remind staff in its Special Educational Needs and Disability Service toensure, requests from parents areresponded to in a timely manner. This is to ensure effective communication withthose involved and to avoid unnecessary delays and distress in the process.

Case Ref: 23 018 294 Category: Planning Sub Category: Enforcement

• The Council will remind its planning enforcement staff of the importance of responding to public enquiries and keeping the public updated on any enforcement investigations in a timely manner.

Case Ref: 23 017 934 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will provide us with a written report of its progress in reducing the backlog of delayed Education, Health and Care Plans.

Case Ref: 23 017 013 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Charging

• The Council has agreed to:a) review the published guidance and the Council’s policy on Deferred Payment Agreements so that they are consistent;
• b) remind relevant staff members of the guidance, their discretionary powers and preventative duties;
• c) through a staff circular or team meeting remind staff about the need to communicate financial decisions promptly, clearly and in writing. This includes any dates or decisions;
• d) through a staff circular or team meeting remind staff about setting out how they have reached financial decisions including how they have made calculations;
• e) remind staff about the need to respond to complaints in a timely manner.

Case Ref: 23 016 921 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council has agreed to review its procedure for amending EHC Plans following reviews (annual and emergency) to ensure any changes are made and a final EHC plan issued within a reasonable period of time (ideally in the region of 8 to 12 weeks from the review).
• The Council has agreed to offer training and/or guidance to all relevant staff on the requirement to consider alternative educational provision for children out of school for longer than 15 days due to illness, exclusion or otherwise

Case Ref: 23 015 382 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will provide training to its Special Educational Needs staff to ensure they understand the legal framework, the Council's obligations to complete the Educational, Health and Care needs assessment within the statutory timeframe, and when timeframe exemptions apply.

Case Ref: 23 013 038 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• In a previous complaint Reference 23004841 the Council has agreed to take action to improve services when providing alternative education and improving timescales for completing EHC plans. I do not intend to repeat these actions but in addition the Council has agreed to:-a) provide evidence of the steps it is taking to address the delays in getting Educational Psychologist assessments;
• b) set out what steps/policy changes it is making to address communication with other local authorities where a child is attending an out of area school; and
• c) review why there was a delay in responding at Stage 2 of this complaint and take action to address any lessons learnt from the review.

Case Ref: 23 004 887 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council has agreed to provide an update on progress with the service recommendations to improve the Council's processes.: