Service improvements

West Northamptonshire Council

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026

Find out more about service improvements

When we find fault, we can recommend improvements to systems and processes where they haven’t worked properly, so that others do not suffer from these same problems in future. Common examples are policy changes; procedural reviews; and staff training. Service improvements from decisions are published for 5 years and those from reports are published for 10 years.

Showing 1 - 10 of 11 cases with service improvements

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Downloads the current filtered list of service improvement decisions for West Northamptonshire Council as a CSV file.

  • West Northamptonshire Council (25 005 884)

    Category: Education Date: 13-Feb-2026

    Summary

    Miss X complained the Council failed to ensure Y received all the provision set out in his Education, Health and Care Plan and failed to effectively deal with her complaint. We find the Council at fault causing uncertainty around whether Y received the provision he was entitled to and meaning Miss X had to spend additional time in the complaint process. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a payment to recognise the injustice and act to prevent recurrence.

    Service improvements

    The Council will issue guidance to relevant staff to ensure they understand the Council’s duty to ensure the provision set out in an Education, Health and Care Plan is non-delegable and the Council is expected to quickly investigate and act on complaints or concerns that provision is not in place itself.

  • West Northamptonshire Council (25 004 574)

    Category: Children's care services Date: 09-Dec-2025

    Summary

    There was fault by the Council because it failed to involve Mr X when it received child safeguarding allegations about his daughter Y. This caused avoidable distress and uncertainty about the actions and decisions the Council might have made had it involved Mr X. The Council will apologise, make a symbolic payment and complete training to front line staff around best practice for engaging and working with fathers.

    Service improvements

    The Council will deliver training for relevant staff on the importance of engaging and working in partnership with fathers when receiving child safeguarding referrals from other agencies and generally.

  • West Northamptonshire Council (25 002 633)

    Category: Education Date: 13-Jan-2026

    Summary

    The Council was at fault for the time taken to issue an Education, Health and Care Plan for Ms X’s child and for not putting in place suitable education when the child was out of school. This meant the child had to wait much longer than they should for support with their special educational needs and missed out on education they should have received. To remedy the injustice caused the Council agreed to apologise, make payments to recognise the loss of education, special educational provision and delays issuing an Education, Health and Care Plan. The Council also agreed to carry out a service improvement.

    Service improvements

    Look at why there were such significant delays completing the child's Education, Health and Care Plan, particularly after getting advice from an Educational Psychologist. The Council should consider what steps it will take to improve its procedures to ensure such delays do not occur in future and report back to the Ombudsman with the changes it proposes to make.

  • West Northamptonshire Council (25 001 155)

    Category: Education Date: 02-Dec-2025

    Summary

    Miss X complained the Council failed to adhere to the statutory timeframes for issuing her child, Z’s, Education, Health and Care Plan, and it failed to provide Z with access to suitable education. We find the Council at fault for a delay in issuing a final Education, Health and Care Plan and a delay in securing suitable education. This caused distress and frustration for Miss X and significantly impacted Z’s access to education. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a symbolic payment to Miss X and ensure it has a robust section 19 referral process in place available to any staff member working with children out of education.

    Service improvements

    The Council will ensure it has a robust process in place to ensure all teams who support children out of education are able to refer the child to the relevant panel for section 19 consideration to determine whether alternative provision is required.

  • West Northamptonshire Council (24 023 200)

    Category: Transport and highways Date: 12-Nov-2025

    Summary

    Miss X complained the Council wrongly pursued her for fourteen Penalty Charge Notices incurred by a vehicle she no longer owned. Miss X said the Council actions caused her significant worry and distress. The Council failed to fully consider representations and evidence provided and pursued Miss X for PCNs she evidenced she was not responsible for. The Council complaint handling was poor. This frustrated and distressed Miss X and she was put to time and trouble to complain. The Council will apologise, make a financial payment and provide guidance to relevant staff.

    Service improvements

    •Remind relevant staff of the importance of effective complaint handling and responding in line with the Council policy.•Remind relevant staff to fully consider representations and evidence provided in response to Penalty Charge Notices.

  • West Northamptonshire Council (24 021 929)

    Category: Education Date: 05-Nov-2025

    Summary

    The Council was at fault for failing to provide Mrs X’s child, Y with the special educational provision they were entitled to in their Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to recognise Y’s loss of education as well as the distress, frustration and uncertainty caused by this. The Council was also at fault for failing to provide Y with the education mentor it agreed. This did not cause Y an additional injustice as there was no education in place for the mentor to assist with.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to review this case to determine why the funding for the education mentor was delayed and share the learning from this with the relevant officers.The Council has agreed to create an action plan to address how it will improve checks on whether children are receiving special educational provision they are entitled to and take timely action to put this in place.

  • West Northamptonshire Council (24 018 373)

    Category: Education Date: 22-Sep-2025

    Summary

    The Council was at fault for failing to act after Mrs X notified the Council that her child, Y, was not receiving a suitable education at home between January 2024 and May 2025. The Council was also at fault as it failed to issue Y’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan within the statutory timescales, caused in part by a delay in obtaining Educational Psychologist advice. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to recognise Y’s missed education.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to provide training and/or guidance to the relevant officers to ensure home education plans are approved in line with the relevant guidance and action is taken when it is clear the child is not receiving a suitable education.

  • West Northamptonshire Council (24 015 710)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 20-Oct-2025

    Summary

    Ms X complained about a failure to complete a s117 aftercare plan before she left hospital or after she returned home. We found fault that a council and an NHS trust did not complete a s117 aftercare plan. This caused Ms X stress and frustration which is an injustice. Further, we found fault in the way the Trust handled Ms X’s complaint which caused more injustice. The council and NHS trust agreed to apologise, take corrective action and make financial payments to address the injustice.

    Service improvements

    In this complaint a woman who had been detained under section 3 of the Mental Health Act 1983 was discharged without a s117 aftercare plan. Further, neither the Council nor the Trust told the ICB of the woman's eligibility for s117. And, no organisation completed a s117 aftercare plan in the community. We found this was all fault. We asked the Council to review the case - either on its own or in collaboration with its NHS partners - as a learning tool, with a view to making specific, measurable andrealistic service improvements.

  • West Northamptonshire Council (24 013 887)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 24-Jun-2025

    Summary

    The Council delayed informing Mr D of the outcome of his financial assessment and delayed sending him an invoice. This was fault. The Council has agreed to apologise, cancel the invoice and carry out a service improvement.

    Service improvements

    •Remind relevant officers of the importance of carrying out the financial assessment and informing the person of the outcome of the assessment as soon as possible and preferably at the same time as the care plan is being decided.

  • West Northamptonshire Council (24 012 531)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 07-Jul-2025

    Summary

    Mr Y complained about the way the Council charged for the domestic care services delivered to his father-in-law, Mr X. We found fault in the way the Council charged Mr X. The Council failed to provide information on its charging and to send documents following Mr X’s care needs assessment. The Council also significantly delayed Mr X’s financial assessment. The Council’s fault caused injustice to Mr X as he was not aware he would be charged for his care and how much he would need to pay. The Council has agreed to apologise and waive some of Mr X’s care charges. It has also agreed to carry out some service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review process of arranging care needs assessments and preparing support plans to ensure social workers:a) provide comprehensive information on the Council’s rules for charging early in the process and during the care assessment at the latest;b) after completing care needs assessments and support plans send them to the residents.The Council will review timeliness of financial assessments to ensure they are concluded and sent to the residents with relevant advice before the Council starts charging for care services.

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