Case Ref: 22 008 906 Category: Housing Sub Category: Private housing

• The Council agreed to remind officers of the need to respond and process complaints properly and to respond to correspondence.

Case Ref: 22 007 789 Category: Children's care services Sub Category: Child protection

• The Council will amend any policy or protocol document to ensure it correctly states when Stage Two timescales start within the statutory complaints procedures; when it is requested. This change should be sent to all staff involved in this procedure.

Case Ref: 22 004 125 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Residential care

• Within three months of our final decision, the Council will write to the Ombudsmen to explain what action it will take to ensure the care home has a robust protocol in place for the administration of medications. This should include a process for receiving, storing, administering and recording medications. It should also include a process for recording specialist advice.

Case Ref: 22 003 130 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Direct payments

• The Council will remind its Financial Assessment and Adult Social Care Teams of the process and eligibility criteria for disability related expenditure to ensure correct and proper decisions are made from the outset when it receives requests or concerns about care charge contributions.
• The Council will remind its Adult Social Care staff to respond to requests and reviews for disability related expenditure in a timely manner, and to keep service users, or their representative, informed if there are delays in reviewing its decisions.

Case Ref: 22 001 773 Category: Education Sub Category: Alternative provision

• •Ensure staff are aware of the Councils statutory obligation and those of the school as detailed in the Education Act 1996 to ensure a child receives a suitable education if they are unable to attend school.
• •Update its website and local offer to ensure information about HOE support to children of primary school age is clear.
• •Review its policies and procedures to ensure the Council retains oversight and responsibility for its duties to children unable to attend school.

Case Ref: 22 001 038 Category: Children's care services Sub Category: Friends and family carers

• The Council was at fault for it's Special Guardianship Allowance policy which went against statutory guidance, case law and our previous focus reports. The Council will update its policy to ensure it is compliant.
• The Council will identify all Special Guardians affected by it's non-compliant Allowance policy, and apply it's revised policy to backdate payments to them accordingly from 1 April 2021.

Case Ref: 22 000 307 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Assessment and care plan

• Provide training to its staff about the importance of considering motivation and the full factors and evidence surrounding motivation, when making a decision about deprivation of assets and detailing the Council's thinking about this consideration.

Case Ref: 21 017 938 Category: Children's care services Sub Category: Child protection

• The Council has agreed to remind relevant staff that in considering the findings and recommendations of statutory children’s complaints investigations, the Council should consider whether a personal remedy is appropriate with reference to the Ombudsman’s guidance on remedies.

Case Ref: 21 016 519 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Charging

• The Council has agreed to ensure the expert training to all DRE approvers has been completed.
• The Council has agreed to issue a reminder to all relevant staff about the importance of responding to complaints within the 20 working day timescale or providing updates to complainants where are response is going to take longer.

Case Ref: 21 015 756 Category: Housing Sub Category: Other

• • Review its approach to joint complaint handling with NPH. Provide the Ombudsman with evidence of what changes it made as a result of this investigation.
• • Provide evidence of the procedure the Council introduced in relation to cases where the perpetrator is due to be released from prison.
• • Remind relevant officers of which complaints should be referred to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and Housing Ombudsman.