Service improvements

Cheshire East Council

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023

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 - 5 of 5 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 (22 005 333)

    Category: Education Date: 06-Mar-2023

    Summary

    Mr X complained that the Council failed to provide his daughter, D, with an education during a period when she was unable to attend school. He said this caused an injustice as it affected D’s wellbeing and she missed out on an education. We find the Council at fault. We have made a recommendation of payment to acknowledge that fault and remedy the injustice caused.

    Service improvements

    The Council should have reviewed its policies and procedures for situations where it is informed a child is missing education. It should ensure that it has systems in place to take decisive action when it becomes aware a child is missing education. It should provide evidence of this review to the Ombudsman.

  • Cheshire East Council (22 003 623)

    Category: Education Date: 19-Jan-2023

    Summary

    Mrs X complained about delays and poor communication after she asked the Council for an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan for her child Y. The Council was at fault for delay in issuing the EHC Plan, and for poor communication. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mrs X and pay her £300 to acknowledge the frustration caused. It has already recruited more staff to improve its communication. It has also agreed to review how it communicates the timescales involved to parents and carers to help manage expectations.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review the letter it sends to parents and carers advising them it will carry out an Education Health and Care assessment to ensure the letter clearly sets out the expected timescales for the Education Health and Care process, to help manage parents’ expectations around communication.

  • Cheshire East Council (22 000 530)

    Category: Education Date: 08-Feb-2023

    Summary

    We uphold Mrs X’s complaint about the Council refusing her summer born child (Y) a delayed reception start. We find fault with its decision-making process and delay. The Council has agreed to reconvene a new Panel and ensure it is instructed to make the decision in line with the School Admissions Code and non-statutory Guidance and review its processes to improve decision communications. It will also apologise to Mrs X and pay her £150 for her avoidable frustration and inconvenience.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to review its internal processes to address communication delays and ensure Panel outcome letters clearly set out evidence of decision-making with clear reasons given in feedback to parents.

  • Cheshire East Council (22 000 018)

    Category: Education Date: 24-Nov-2022

    Summary

    Miss X complained that the Council failed to comply with outcomes agreed in mediation within statutory timeframes. She also complained that the Council delayed issuing her son’s Education, Health and Care plan. Miss X said this caused unnecessary distress, stress, frustration, and had an impact on her and her son. We find the Council at fault, and the fault caused Miss X injustice. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a payment to reflect the injustice caused, and make an improvement to its service to prevent a recurrence.

    Service improvements

    the Council will remind relevant staff of the timescales for actions in mediation agreements to be completed, as set out in the Regulations.

  • Cheshire East Council (21 014 481)

    Category: Education Date: 03-Mar-2023

    Summary

    Mrs X complained about the Council’s actions in relation to her child (Y) who has special educational needs and an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan). The Council was at fault. It did not take action sooner to arrange alternative provision for Y when they were unable to attend school and it did not review the matter. The Council was also at fault for delaying issuing the final EHC Plan before Y moved to post-16 education. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mrs X and Y and give them a symbolic payment for the frustration and uncertainty the matter caused them. The Council will also make service improvements to prevent a recurrence of faults.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed it will review with staff the Ombudsman's focus report, Out of school, out of sight and discuss with them the importance of reviewing alternative provision plans made for children out of school.

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