Case Ref: 23 004 544 Category: Education Sub Category: School transport

• The Council will remind all officers who carry out and sit at school transport appeal panels, and those who send decision letters, of the requirement to consider all of the evidence presented and properly record and evidence how it reached the decision, in line with statutory guidance.

Case Ref: 23 003 459 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will remind officers dealing with reviews of EHCPs of the need to follow the process set out in the code of practice even if there is an outstanding appeal in relation to an earlier EHCP.
• The Council will remind officers dealing with special educational needs complaints of the need to comply with complaint timescales, particularly when it does not intend to pursue the complaint further due to an appeal. The Council should also remind those officers to check if there are separable parts of the complaint, unrelated to an appeal, which can be dealt with under the Council’s complaints procedure.

Case Ref: 22 017 779 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Safeguarding

• The Council agreed to review its administrative processes for handling adult safeguarding concerns to establish why it failed to consider one of the safeguarding concerns raised in this case. It will then issue internal guidance to relevant staff to prevent reoccurrence of this issue.
• The Council agreed to share our final decision with relevant adult safeguarding staff to ensure they are aware of the Ombudsman’s findings in this case. It will ensure staff are aware of the Council’s learning points from our decision and the importance of:clear and accurate record-keeping, including recording decision reasons;keeping to timescales, monitoring delays, and keeping the subject of the safeguarding concern and/or their representative(s) informed; communicating outcomes to the subject and/or their representative(s); andproperly checking Council records when responding to complaints about adult safeguarding to ensure Council complaint responses are accurate based on its records and evidence.

Case Ref: 22 015 508 Category: Other Categories Sub Category: Leisure and culture

• The Council will review all policies applicable to the library in this case, ensuring its takes into account the Council’s duties under the Equality Act 2010 and ensuring it offers service users a right of appeal or review on any decision to exclude. The Council will then publish any updated library policies on its website.
• The Council will provide training or guidance to customer contact staff on any new policies and to ensure they are aware to give reasons for any decisions with reference to the evidence relied on and relevant law or policy.

Case Ref: 22 010 676 Category: Transport and highways Sub Category: Parking and other penalties

• The Council will develop a procedure for dealing with vulnerable debtors, particularly around referring cases to bailiffs.

Case Ref: 22 009 347 Category: Education Sub Category: Alternative provision

• The Council will confirm to us that it has reminded officers of the factors they should consider when deciding whether alternative educational provision needs to be made.

Case Ref: 22 005 087 Category: Housing Sub Category: Allocations

• The Council will provide guidance to staff who manage homelessness applications to highlight the issues identified in our decision and ensure a joined up approach is used when dealing with applications.
• The Council will review its approach to applicants subject to a section 21 notice to ensure it is in accordance with the Homelessness Code.
• To remedy potential injustice to others who have not complained the Council will review and amend the allocations policy to ensure that all those entitled to reasonable preference under the Housing Act 1996 receive such preference under the Council’s scheme.
• Following the implementation of its revised allocation policy, the Council will identify all homeless applicants currently owed a homelessness duty under Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 who do not have an active application to the housing register and write to those applicants explaining the fault found in this investigation and invite them to apply to the housing register.

Case Ref: 22 004 864 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• Remind staff of the requirement to adhere to the statutory timescales regarding the issue of EHC plans
• Remind staff to keep clear and accurate records, in particular when making amendments to EHC plans
• Remind staff to adhere to the Council’s complaints policy

Case Ref: 22 011 873 Category: Environment and regulation Sub Category: Refuse and recycling

• The Council agreed to review its missed bin collection reporting system.

Case Ref: 22 011 189 Category: Environment and regulation Sub Category: Refuse and recycling

• The Council will take action to ensure it has a process in place that allows it to meet its policy to collect rubbish weekly, even where there are faults with its vehicles.
• The Council will review any complaints received from other households about the same issue in the last 12 months and consider whether to provide a remedy for any injustice suffered.