Service improvements

Bristol City Council

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025

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 11 - 20 of 20 cases with service improvements

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

  • Bristol City Council (24 001 418)

    Category: Planning Date: 23-Jan-2025

    Summary

    Ms X complained the Council has failed to take enforcement action against a neighbour for breaching planning permission and building a rear extension too high. The Council is at fault for the severe delay in deciding whether to take enforcement action. This has caused Ms X distress, time and trouble. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to Ms X. It will also decide whether to continue with enforcement action and carry out a review of its planning enforcement service.

    Service improvements

    The Council is at fault for severe delay in deciding whether to take enforcement action. The Council has agreed to carry out a lessons learned exercise from the complaint to identify the reasons behind the severe delay in its planning enforcement. The Council will then incorporate the findings into the its existing improvement plan for Planning Enforcement and Development Management.The Council has agreed to share its progress against its planning and development improvement plan with the Ombudsman.The Council has agreed to share the Ombudsman's decision with the relevant overview and scrutiny committee as part of its existing planning and development improvement plan reporting and share the record of the meeting with the Ombudsman.

  • Bristol City Council (23 018 628)

    Category: Environment and regulation Date: 29-May-2024

    Summary

    Mr X complained about numerous missed waste collections and a poor response to his complaint about this matter. There was fault the Council missed several waste collections and fault it was not able to give accurate information about when collections were due. The Council have already taken steps to address Mr X’s complaint and it has now agreed to additional action to remedy Mr X’s remaining injustice.

    Service improvements

    The Council were at fault because it did not update it's amended waste collection services on its electronic timetable that would allow customers to check when collections were due. It agreed it would identify any process changes it needed to put in place before it made any further changes to avoid confusion in the future.

  • Bristol City Council (23 018 415)

    Category: Environment and regulation Date: 19-Aug-2024

    Summary

    Ms X complained about the way the Council dealt with her reports of anti-social behaviour. The Council failed to properly monitor and keep Ms X updated on the actions of the ASB case review. The Council’s complaint handling and communication was also inadequate. These faults caused Ms X distress, frustration and uncertainty. The Council has already apologised and offered a financial remedy for complaint handling. The Council will make a further payment to recognise the personal injustice to Ms X and remind staff of the statutory guidance on ASB case reviews.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind staff dealing with anti-social behaviour case reviews of the statutory guidance about keeping victims informed of updates within the anti-social behaviour case review.

  • Bristol City Council (23 017 332)

    Category: Education Date: 28-Jul-2024

    Summary

    We found fault on Ms B’s complaint about the Council failing to consider and decide her request for an Education, Health and Care needs assessment for her daughter C within statutory timescales. The 20-week timescale was missed by seven months. The agreed action remedies the injustice caused.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to produce an action plan to show how the Council will meet the statutory timescales for all stages of the process, from receiving the request for an Education health care needs assessment, to issuing a final Education health and care plan

  • Bristol City Council (23 017 134)

    Category: Education Date: 20-Aug-2024

    Summary

    The Council failed to make the provision set out in a child’s Education Health and Care Plan when his school placement broke down, including speech and language therapy. The Council made some alternative provision in this time, but it did not consider fully whether this was suitable or a full-time provision. The Council has agreed to take action to remedy the injustice to the child and his family.

    Service improvements

    The Council should share this decision with the relevant staff.

  • Bristol City Council (23 016 580)

    Category: Environment and regulation Date: 13-May-2024

    Summary

    Mr X complained that the Council delayed in renewing his taxi licence. We found the Council was at fault. In recognition of the injustice caused the Council has agreed to make a payment to Mr X.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed that it will update its website to advise applicants that it may take four weeks to process an application and that applications can be accepted up to six weeks in advance.

  • Bristol City Council (23 015 115)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 21-Nov-2024

    Summary

    Mr X complained the Council decided to stop his care package after a flawed reassessment of his social care needs, and that a subsequent reassessment was delayed. The Council was at fault for delay in completing the first reassessment. This caused Mr X avoidable frustration and uncertainty for which the Council will apologise. It will also issue a staff reminder about needs assessment timescales. The Council was not at fault in the other matters Mr X complained about.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind relevant staff that they must complete adult social care needs assessments in a reasonable and proportionate timescale.

  • Bristol City Council (23 011 801)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 02-May-2024

    Summary

    Mrs X complained the Council failed to respond to many of her emails; failed to tell her about extra charges for additional carers and failed to consider her late father’s private care provision during its financial assessment. We find the Council was at fault for delay in responding to Mrs X’s emails. This caused her significant distress, and she spent unnecessary time and trouble in contacting the Council. The Council has agreed to make several recommendations to address this injustice caused by fault.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to remind relevant officers of the importance of providing clear communication and responding in a timely manner.

  • Bristol City Council (23 009 039)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 27-May-2024

    Summary

    Ms X complained about the Council’s failure to provide care to meet her assessed needs and related matters. We found the Council to be at fault. It took too long to provide care at the outset, told her to make her own arrangements when the Council could not find a suitable carer and took no action to respond to Ms X’s concerns about lack of parenting support. This led Ms X cancelling her care package and being without care she needed for several months. There was also fault by the care provider when it sent an email to the wrong address on behalf of Ms X. To remedy the injustice to Ms X, the Council has agreed to apologise, make a payment and take action to improve its service.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to reflect on the issues raised in this decision statement and identify any areas of service improvement, particularly in respect of collaborative working between different Council departments. The Council should prepare a short report setting out what the Council intends to do to ensure similar problems do not reoccur. This report should be sent to the Ombudsman.The Council will provide a copy of this decision statement to complaints officers to ensure they are aware of the Council’s ongoing responsibility when commissioning statutory services.

  • Bristol City Council (23 004 795)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 19-May-2024

    Summary

    Ms T complained the Council failed to provide suitable adult social care support to her friend, Mr Z, after his main carer died. The Council delayed making clear best interests’ decisions, failed to decide who should take over deputyship of Mr Z’s financial and property affairs and failed to put in place bereavement support. There was no fault in how the Council assessed Mr Z’s mental capacity and it was not at fault for the placing Mr Z in residential care for three weeks, as this was appropriate action to take in urgent circumstances. The Council’s faults have caused Mr Z uncertainty and in recognition of this, the Council has agreed to apologise, pay Mr Z £600, and carry out service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to speak with Kumari Care to seek assurances that its care staff will record medication administration clearly in its care records in future, and show that managers have communicated this to the organisation’s frontline care workers.The Council has agreed to remind its adult social care staff of the importance of best interests decisions being carried out promptly where recommended following mental capacity assessments and these decisions being properly considered and recorded, in line with Section 4 of the Mental Capacity Act.The Council has agreed to hold a lessons learned meeting to establish why best interests decisions were frequently not carried out in this case, and put learning in place to ensure against this happening in future.The Council has agreed to remind its adult social care staff that care needs assessments should be carried out promptly in response to significant, new circumstances which change a person’s care needs.The Council has agreed to demonstrate what steps it has taken or intends to take, to reduce its adult social care complaint backlog and ensure it is able to investigate these complaints within reasonable timeframes.

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