Service improvements

Bracknell Forest Council

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2027

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 18 cases with service improvements

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

  • Bracknell Forest Council (25 010 124)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 30-Jun-2026

    Summary

    Ms C complains the Care Provider, acting for the Council and ICB, failed to provide satisfactory care to Mrs D which resulted in her not receiving suitable health care and support. Ms C also complains the Council failed to investigate the Care Provider through safeguarding properly. There was service failure by the Care Provider which has caused uncertainty about whether Mrs D received suitable care and support. The Council, and Care Provider have agreed to make service improvements and a symbolic payment to Ms C for the distress caused by the service failure.

    Service improvements

    2. Within three months of the final decision, as part of its contract monitoring of the Care Provider, the Council will review the Care Provider’s recording, in particular, daily case notes, reviews and updating care plans.4. Within three months of the final decision the Care Provider will:a) remind staff by a team meeting, training, staff circular or supervision about the need to follow care plans and evidence when action is taken; and to review and update care plans when there are changes in a person’s needs;4. Within three months of the final decision the Care Provider will:b) remind staff by a team meeting, training, staff circular or supervision about including the frequency of when action needs to be taken in care plans so staff members are clear about what actions are needed and when;4. Within three months of the final decision the Care Provider will:c) remind staff by a team meeting, training, staff circular or supervision about making contemporaneous records;4. Within three months of the final decision the Care Provider will:d) review how food and fluid is monitored in the care home, including how care staff monitor and analyse information recorded so there are triggers for review/further action when a person is not eating or drinking enough.

  • Bracknell Forest Council (24 021 624)

    Category: Children's care services Date: 19-Dec-2025

    Summary

    Mrs X complained about the Council’s handling of her request for a parent carers assessment, the children’s statutory complaints process, and how it communicated with her. Overall, we agreed with the Council’s stage two findings. However, the remedy proposed was not adequate to acknowledge the impact its delays had on her, and it did not consider the significantly delayed complaints handling. The Council will apologise, make a symbolic payment, and carry out service improvements recommendations.

    Service improvements

    The Council will share with the Ombudsman an update on its planned training for its staff on the carers assessment policy and process.The Council will review how it can ensure the timescales in the children’s statutory complaints process are adhered to, and updates are provided to complainants when investigations are taking longer than expected. This should be within the maximum 65 days allowed for the process.

  • Bracknell Forest Council (24 016 166)

    Category: Education Date: 07-Aug-2025

    Summary

    Mr X complained the Council failed to follow government guidance when deciding the route Y’s school transport should take. We find the Council at fault for failing to evidence its decision-making process and for providing incorrect information, creating uncertainty for Mr X. The Council should apologise, make a symbolic payment to recognise the injustice, and act to prevent recurrence.

    Service improvements

    The Council should remind staff who make decisions on school transport applications of the importance of clearly setting out their reasons and what they have considered, particularly when deciding not to meet specific elements of the guidance.The Council should create a process for staff to follow when making decisions on school transport to aid decision making where guidance pulls in different directions and setting out what should be prioritised. The Council should also update its policy to reflect this.

  • Bracknell Forest Council (24 010 644)

    Category: Education Date: 26-Jun-2025

    Summary

    Miss X complained that her child who has an Education, Health and Care Plan has been without a special school place or suitable fulltime alternative education for two years. There was fault causing loss of education over a two-year period and an adverse impact on the parent carer who has been unable to work. The Council will apologise, continue efforts to find a school place, make a remedy payment and carry out service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council will ensure that officers understand the difference between EOTAS and s.19 education, apply the correct legal test for EOTAS and amend EHC Plans to reflect where EOTAS is the decided ‘placement’. Pupils should be correctly recorded and tracked by the appropriate team according to whether they are s.19 or EOTAS.A Senior Officer will carry out an internal review of the case to identify why a pupil has been left without a school place for 2 years, and if lessons can be learnt to avoid recurrence of the fault.

  • Bracknell Forest Council (24 002 890)

    Category: Education Date: 04-Aug-2025

    Summary

    The Council took too long to issue an Education, Health and Care Plan for Mrs X’s daughter following an annual review in February 2024. She also complained her daughter was not provided with a suitable education during the period she was unable to attend school from November 2023. We found no fault. We found there were faults with the Council’s handling of the school phase transfer review, record keeping and failure to consult with Mrs X’s preferred school. The Council agreed to apologise, make a payment to Mrs X and S and review progress on improving its practice.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to revise its practise of not holding phase transfer reviews for children whose EHC Plan’s the Council issued in year 6.

  • Bracknell Forest Council (23 015 717)

    Category: Education Date: 15-Aug-2024

    Summary

    Mrs X complained about the Council’s failure to provide her child with a suitable education and support for their special needs when they were unable to attend school. We found the Council to be at fault. There was also fault with the Council’s communication and complaint handling. To remedy the injustice to Mrs X, the Council has agreed to apologise, make a payment and confirm action it has taken to improve its service.

    Service improvements

    The Council has explained it has recently restructured the SEND team and employed more staff to cope with increasing demands. The Council should provide the Ombudsman with a brief summary of action taken far to improve its service going forwards.

  • Bracknell Forest Council (23 007 019)

    Category: Education Date: 14-May-2024

    Summary

    Mrs X complains the Council failed to respond to her request for an Education, Health and Care Needs reassessment for her son, and failed to respond to her complaint. We find fault with the Council for failing to properly respond to her request and complaint, and for delay in dealing with her complaint. We have agreed symbolic payments for the distress and uncertainty caused to Mrs X.

    Service improvements

    The Council must remind staff to clearly set out decision letters along with any appeal rights when telling parents or carers of the outcome of a decision not to assess, reassess, issue or amend an Education, Health and Care Plan as set out in the SEN Regulations 2014.

  • Bracknell Forest Council (23 006 255)

    Category: Education Date: 20-May-2024

    Summary

    Mrs X complains about the Council’s failure to provide adequate and timely alternative education provision for her Child, Child Y, when they were unable to attend school from January to July 2023. The Council was at fault for not acting sooner when Mrs X alerted it in early November 2022 of Child Y’s significantly decreased school attendance. The Council delayed responding to Mrs X’s request for and then completion of an early Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan review for Child Y. The Council has agreed to apologise and make payments to Mrs X and Child Y for the injustice caused by these faults. It will also review its procedures for schools in its area to highlight any pupils who fail to attend school regularly.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to review, and if needed amend, the policy/mechanism it has in place for how schools inform it of the details of pupils who fail to attend school regularly, or have missed ten school days or more, as outlined in the statutory guidance, to ensure it is receiving timely and suitable information about children out of education from schools.

  • Bracknell Forest Council (22 018 140)

    Category: Education Date: 29-Nov-2023

    Summary

    Mrs X complained the Council failed to arrange suitable alternative education for her son, Y, when he could no longer attend school. There was fault in how the Council failed to consider Mrs X’s request for alternative education for Y, failed to respond to her complaints and how it wrote to Y’s GP. This caused Y to miss some education, costs for Mrs X and significant distress, time and trouble to Mrs X and Y. The Council agreed to apologise, pay a financial remedy and review how it manages alternative educational provision and special educational needs complaints.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to review its policies and procedures for making decisions about alternative educational provision under section 19 of the Education Act. It should ensure its procedures follow the appropriate law and statutory guidance, that it seeks relevant information on which to base its decisions and that it has a suitable process for monitoring the quality of decisions made under these duties; and arrange appropriate training for education and Special Educational Needs staff on the Council’s updated policy and procedures. This training should include the Ombudsman’s Out of Sight focus report and the findings of this investigation.The Council agreed to review its arrangements for managing complaints about its Special Educational Needs service. This should include a plan for how the Council will ensure the service is appropriately staffed to allow the Council to respond to complaints in line with its published complaint’s procedure.

  • Bracknell Forest Council (22 015 918)

    Category: Education Date: 03-Sep-2023

    Summary

    Mrs X complains about delay by the Council in completing her son’s Education, Health and Care Plan after the annual review, and delay in releasing payment to her for alternative education provision. We find fault with the Council for the delay, and have recommended a symbolic payment for the frustration and distress caused to Mrs X.

    Service improvements

    The Council should: a) Provide us with its plan to improve compliance with the EHC plan timescales; andb) Advise the outcome of the review of its processes regarding 'Education other than at school ' payment when the EHCP and provision are unchanged

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