Case Ref: 23 018 073 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Assessment and care plan

• The Council has agreed to identify the action it is going to take to ensure people are not charged for support they are not yet receiving, and people do not have to wait months for their support to be put in place.

Case Ref: 23 017 268 Category: Benefits and tax Sub Category: Council tax

• The Council will provide feedback to its council tax team on how it can improve the way it deals with vulnerable customers
• The Council has agreed to ensure that enforcement action for council tax debts is placed on hold in future when there is a complaint ongoing

Case Ref: 23 009 086 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Charging

• The Council should review its process for dealing with disagreements about financial assessment outcomes to make any changes needed.
• The Council should inform adult social care staff of the process for dealing with financial assessment disagreements, including how they should inform service users of the process available.

Case Ref: 23 003 789 Category: Education Sub Category: School admissions

• The Council has agreed that it will issue a reminder to clerks that they must take detailed notes of the hearing and of the panel’s decision-making including the reasons for the panel’s decision at each stage of the process.

Case Ref: 22 017 136 Category: Benefits and tax Sub Category: Housing benefit and council tax benefit

• The Council has agreed to review its procedures to ensure it complies with the Housing Benefit Tribunal rules.
• The Council has agreed to review its procedures to ensure it processes all housing benefit appeals in a timely manner.

Case Ref: 22 006 278 Category: Planning Sub Category: Enforcement

• Remind staff to adhere to the Council’s enforcement policy, specifically regarding notifying informants when the Council decides there is no breach of planning permission
• Remind staff to adhere to the Council’s complaints policy timescales
• Remind staff to maintain clear and appropriate records to demonstrate clearly the rationale for their decisions

Case Ref: 22 009 152 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Domiciliary care

• Ensures it asks complainants for payment details in good time to enable it to meet the agreed timescales for making payments recommended by the Ombudsman.

Case Ref: 22 005 023 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Disabled facilities grants

• The Council agreed to discuss lessons from this complaint at a quarterly meeting where it reviews it adaptations service. This was to consider how it, and its partners, could further improve performance to ensure it met Government expectations on the timescales for DFG works to complete and to improve communications with landlords to prevent delays in obtaining landlord consent for works through lengthy exchanges of information.
• The Council will also complete the work of ensuring DFG applicants are kept informed of likely timescales at each stage of their journey through the process.

Case Ref: 22 004 322 Category: Education Sub Category: School admissions

• The Council will remind all school admission appeal clerking staff of the need to record the panel's reasons at both stages of the deliberations and explain them to parents/carers in the decision letter.

Case Ref: 22 003 960 Category: Education Sub Category: COVID-19

• The Council agreed to remind all school admissions appeal clerking staff of the need to record the reasons for the panel's decisions at both stages of the appeal deliberations and explain the reasons for the decisions to parents and carers in the decision letter.