Case Ref: 23 008 274 Category: Education Sub Category: Alternative provision

• Review its processes for completing EHC Plan reviews and provide guidance and training to staff about the importance of adhering to the review timescales.
• Provide guidance and training to staff about its responsibility to provide education or training to 16 to 18 year olds.

Case Ref: 23 004 633 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council agreed to remind relevant staff that while it can require schools to carry out annual review meetings for education health and care plans on its behalf, the Council is still responsible for ensuring that annual reviews are carried out.
• The Council agreed to remind relevant staff that, following an annual review of an education health and care plan, it must send is decision about the review within four weeks, even if it does not propose to make any changes to the plan.
• The Council agreed to review its requirements and guidance for schools which it asks to hold education health and care plan annual review meetings on its behalf. It should ensure that:schools properly consider and record all the relevant issues mentioned in statutory guidance, including preparing children for adulthood;any reports from meetings prepared by schools have sufficient information for the Council to make its decision about the review; andwhere it does not receive reports at the right time or if reports do not contain the required information, it raises this with the school in a timely manner.
• The Council agreed to clarify the information on its website about which of its services are and are not covered by the statutory children's complaints procedure, including complaints about education health and care plans.

Case Ref: 23 002 318 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council agreed to share a copy of our decision with relevant staff across its Special Educational Needs (SEN) and Disability service. It will remind staff of the Council’s statutory duty to secure the SEN provision in a child’s Education, Health, and Care plan.

Case Ref: 22 015 586 Category: Education Sub Category: Alternative provision

• The Council will remind relevant officers involved in education monitoring and support of the Council’s duties under law and statutory guidance to consider providing alternative educational provision when a child of statutory school age is out of school for health reasons or otherwise.

Case Ref: 22 015 322 Category: Benefits and tax Sub Category: Other

• The Council has agreed to provide guidance to relevant staff about the circumstances in which people fleeing domestic abuse can apply for assistance from the support fund.
• The Council has agreed to remind staff with responsibility for responding to complaints that complainants should be able to complain in private and that where the complaint concerns sensitive or personal details, such as of domestic abuse, distribution of the complaint and response should usually be kept to a minimum.

Case Ref: 22 014 364 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Safeguarding

• The Council will ensure the Care Provider issues a reminder to all staff that family and other representatives must be kept updated and prescriptions should be collected in a timely fashion.

Case Ref: 22 013 117 Category: Education Sub Category: Alternative provision

• The Council will remind staff they can issue final Education, Health and Care plans without parental agreement. This gives the parent the right to appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability tribunal to resolve any disagreement over the content of the plan.
• The Council will remind staff they must consider whether it owes a child the duty to arrange alternative provision when they become aware the child is out of education or not attending full-time.
• The Council will review the monitoring arrangements it has in place to assure itself that a) children are receiving appropriate alternative provision when they are not in school full-time and b) children receiving alternative provision who have Education, Health and Care plans are receiving the special educational provision set out in their plans. If the Council identifies any actions it needs to take to improve its practice, it will produce an action plan and send it to the Ombudsman.

Case Ref: 22 008 174 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• the Council will evidence how it ensures schools/educational establishments are aware that an annual review for a pupil is required that term
• the Council will evidence how it ensures schools refer pupils out of school to the Council
• the Council will consider whether it needs to review its s19 policy on alternative education, taking into consideration key lessons from the Ombudsman's Focus Report of July 2022

Case Ref: 22 007 521 Category: Transport and highways Sub Category: Parking and other penalties

• The Council has agreed to ensure relevant officers are adequately trained on complaint-handling, particularly with regard to the timescales set out in the Council’s procedure.

Case Ref: 22 000 877 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• the Council will tell us how it will ensure annual reviews are held on time;
• the Council will tell us whether its improved record system is preventing delay after an annual review;
• the Council will tell us about its procedures for parents/carers requesting a personal budget and how parents/carers can appeal a negative decision;
• the Council will ensure that timescales for dealing with statutory Children Act complaints are met.