Service improvements

Birmingham City Council

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023

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 - 5 of 5 cases with service improvements

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

  • Birmingham City Council (22 009 851)

    Category: Education Date: 22-Feb-2023

    Summary

    Mrs X complained about the Council’s decision to reassess her daughter for an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) and its delay in completing this. She also complained about missed provision and the new final EHCP. We found the Council at fault for its delay and its failure to arrange provision. We recommended the Council provide an apology, pay £300 for distress, pay £4790 for missed provision and act to improve its record keeping. We are satisfied with actions already taken to prevent delay in future.

    Service improvements

    The Council will take action to ensure it can access the casework records of staff working in its Special Educational Needs department, even after they have left employment with the Council.

  • Birmingham City Council (22 008 408)

    Category: Education Date: 10-Mar-2023

    Summary

    Ms X complained the Council failed to provide her son, F with Education otherwise than at school (EOTAS) provision in line with his Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan following orders from the SEND tribunal in May 2022 and delayed agreeing a personal budget. The Council was at fault. It did not have a plan to start providing F with EOTAS provision following the tribunal orders and delayed agreeing a personal budget until November 2022. It meant F did not start receiving provision until January 2023. The Council has agreed to backdate F’s personal budget payments to June 2023 and pay Ms X £500 to acknowledge the distress and time and trouble caused.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review how it considers and deals with Education, Health and Care plan cases with the Special Education Needs and Disability tribunal. It should ensure it has processes in place to ensure it is able to start providing provision in line with any tribunal orders by the statutory timescales after an order is given.

  • Birmingham City Council (22 006 282)

    Category: Education Date: 15-Feb-2023

    Summary

    Miss X complained the Council failed to provide her son, F with alternative provision after he stopped attending school in January 2022. The Council was at fault for failing to ensure F received a suitable education between May and November 2022. It agreed to pay Miss X a total of £1550 to acknowledge F’s loss of education and the distress and time and trouble caused to her. It also agreed to carry out service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to remind relevant staff that the Council has a duty to consider individual circumstances, at the time, in deciding whether it has a statutory duty to provide alternative provision for children out of school due to illness, exclusion or otherwise. The Council should ensure staff properly record the decision and the reasons for it at the time.

  • Birmingham City Council (22 001 700)

    Category: Education Date: 03-Feb-2023

    Summary

    Mrs X complained about the way the Council assessed, issued and reviewed her daughter Z’s Education, Health and Care Plan, that it failed to ensure the specified provision was in place and refused her request for a personal budget. The Council failed to ensure the specified provision was in place. The Council agreed to pay Mrs X £2,150 to recognise the impact of the lost provision and the anxiety and distress this caused to Z, to be used for Z’s benefit, and Mrs X £700 to recognise the frustration, distress, time and trouble and financial cost caused to her.

    Service improvements

    The Council will create an action plan to ensure where a change of caseworker is necessary for children with education, health and care plans that decisions, reasons and actions about the plan are accurately and thoroughly recorded and followed through by the following caseworker.

  • Birmingham City Council (21 016 368)

    Category: Education Date: 04-Aug-2022

    Summary

    Miss X complained the Council failed to ensure her son, Y, received suitable full time education once his school placement ended causing distress and financial hardship. We found the Council at fault. We recommended the Council provide Miss X with an apology; pay £900 for Y’s missed education; pay £500 for distress; pay £180 for costs incurred and; act to prevent recurrence.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind staff within its Special Educational Needs team of the need to keep minutes of key meetings, such as annual reviews.The Council will consider how it can improve access to special school places in its area and devise an action plan to share with the Ombudsman. This should include timeframes for action.

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