Service improvements

Cheshire East 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 33 cases with service improvements

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

  • Cheshire East Council (25 009 093)

    Category: Education Date: 01-Apr-2026

    Summary

    The Council was at fault for not issuing the final amended EHC Plan for Mrs X’s child, Y within statutory timescales following an annual review. The Council was also at fault for issuing delayed responses to Mrs X’s complaint. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a symbolic payment to remedy the distress, frustration and uncertainty caused to Mrs X.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to remind complaints officers by way of staff training or a briefing to issue complaint responses within the timescales set out in the corporate complaints policy.

  • Cheshire East Council (25 007 240)

    Category: Education Date: 13-Apr-2026

    Summary

    Mrs Y complains the Council failed to ensure her child received suitable provision once they stopped attending school. In our view, the Council did not properly consider whether it had a duty to arrange alternative provision once it became aware the child was not in school. The Council also insisted on certain medical evidence which is not in accordance with statutory government guidance. The Council will complete the agreed actions to remedy the injustice caused by fault.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind relevant officers to record clear decisions about whether a child can reasonably attend school and whether alternative provision is required. Where the Council decides alternative provision is not necessary, it will record the reasons for that decision and the evidence it relied on.The Council will remind relevant staff that they should not insist on medical evidence from specific professionals, such as consultants or CAMHS clinicians, before considering whether the Section 19 duty applies. Officers should consider all available information about the child’s circumstances, recognising that some families may not be able to obtain evidence from specialist services.The Council will review its ‘Medical Needs Tuition’ policy (September 2022) to make sure it reflects the Department for Education’s statutory guidance, which says councils should consider all available medical evidence, including evidence from GPs, when deciding what education a child may need. The Council’s current policy requires consultant level evidence at the point of referral and only accepts GP evidence in limited circumstances and on an interim basis.

  • Cheshire East Council (25 003 123)

    Category: Education Date: 15-Jan-2026

    Summary

    Ms X complained that the Council failed to secure provision set out in her daughter’s Education, Health and Care Plan. The Council is at fault for failing to secure the provision from February 2025 to July 2025. This caused avoidable distress and frustration to Ms X and her daughter. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a symbolic remedy, and make a service improvement.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to review its decision making and identify gaps in oversight in its handling of missing EHC Plan provision, and outline lessons learned and what it will do in the future to ensure provision in a child or young person’s EHC Plan is delivered.

  • Cheshire East Council (25 002 549)

    Category: Education Date: 13-Nov-2025

    Summary

    Mrs X complained about delays following the Annual Reviews of her son’s (Y) Education Health and Care Plan. We found fault with the Council’s failure to comply with the statutory review timescales. This fault caused injustice to Mrs X. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a symbolic distress payment and carry out some service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review its Annual Review process to ensure there are no unnecessary delays in dealing with the review documents sent by the schools.The Council will ensure there is a system in place to prevent parents of the children with EHC Plans being negatively affected by the changes in the SEND staff.

  • Cheshire East Council (24 011 853)

    Category: Education Date: 26-May-2025

    Summary

    Ms X complained the Council failed to adequately facilitate an independent review panel meeting regarding a permanent exclusion from school. She also complained the Council failed to produce adequate minutes of the meeting. Ms X said the Council’s actions negatively affected the family’s mental health. We found fault by the Council. The Council has agreed to provide an apology, a financial remedy and a copy of the notes taken at the meeting.

    Service improvements

    Remind staff of the need to adhere to the statutory guidance regarding independent review panel hearings; specifically that the minutes of the meeting should name all attendees, and that the clerk should make reasonable efforts to send relevant paperwork to all parties at least five school days prior to the review.

  • Cheshire East Council (24 008 973)

    Category: Education Date: 24-Apr-2025

    Summary

    Mrs X complained the Council failed to secure the special educational provision her in daughter, W’s, Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan. The Council was at fault. To remedy their injustice, the Council will apologise to Mrs X and pay her £1400. It will arrange speech and language therapy provision for W. Lastly, the Council will review why it delayed reassessing W’s needs for her EHC Plan and issue a staff reminder.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review why it did not begin seeking information for the child's Education, Health and Care Plan until May 2024, despite agreeing to the reassessment in March 2024. The Council should identify what steps it should take to make sure such delays do not occur again. It should send the Ombudsman details of those steps.The Council will remind staff that when they commission support from a specialist such as a speech and language therapist, they must ensure the package they commission is sufficient to deliver the relevant special educational provision in the child or young person's Education, Health and Care Plan.

  • Cheshire East Council (23 016 429)

    Category: Education Date: 03-Jul-2025

    Summary

    Mrs B complained that the Council failed to take appropriate action to safeguard and promote the welfare of her children. We find there were delays in care planning which likely delayed Mrs B from having unsupervised contact with her children. The Council also failed to respond to correspondence sent on behalf of Mrs B. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to Mrs B. It has also agreed to make service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to amend its working procedures to ensure care plans are properly updated in accordance with the statutory process, and that section 47 outcomes are properly followed up with families.The Council has agreed to consider how it can minimise changes in social workers for looked after children.The Council has agreed to remind relevant staff of the importance of including all contact and correspondence in the case records, and of responding within a reasonable timeframe.

  • Cheshire East Council (24 005 228)

    Category: Education Date: 29-Nov-2024

    Summary

    Ms X complained the Council failed to provide suitable full-time alternative provision for her son G when he was unable to attend school from July 2023 until May 2024. The Council was at fault for failing to consider if it should provide, and then failing to provide, alternative provision from February to April 2024. The Council was also at fault for failing to consider if the alternative provision it offered met G’s needs. The Council will apologise and pay Ms X £1,100 to recognise the alternative provision G missed and the uncertainty and frustration caused to Ms X by the Council’s actions. The Council will also review its policy for commissioning alternative provision.

    Service improvements

    The Council remind relevant Council officers of the importance of keeping clear, complete and contemporaneous records of its decision making when deciding if it has a duty to provide alternative provision to meet its duties under section 19 of the Education Act 1996.The Council will review its policy to only commission online provision for children who require alternative provision under section 19 of the Education Act 1996, due to illness or otherwise, and ensure the policy does not fetter its discretion to consider the individual needs of each child, in line with the legislation.

  • Cheshire East Council (24 001 618)

    Category: Education Date: 13-Nov-2024

    Summary

    Mrs X complained the Council delayed putting Occupational Therapy provision in place as outlined in her daughter’s (Y) Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan following a SEND tribunal order. The Council is at fault for delaying providing some of the Occupational Therapy provision Y requires. This caused Mrs X distress, frustration and uncertainty and impacted Y’s development. The Council should make a payment to recognise this.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to provide the Ombudsman with an action plan specifically around how the Council intends to reduce mainstream Occupational Therapy wait times and a further update on its progress with the backlog three months after providing the plan.

  • Cheshire East Council (24 001 596)

    Category: Education Date: 23-Dec-2024

    Summary

    Mrs X complained that the Council failed to provide alternative education from the end of June 2023 to February 2024 when her child was unable to attend school on health grounds. We have found fault causing an injustice. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a symbolic payment for the lost education and service improvements.

    Service improvements

    the Council will provide training to its early help team, its attendance and out of school officers and its schools about the referral process to its medical tuition team for pupils unable to attend school on health grounds.

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